HAROLD B. LEE LIBRARY
BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY
PROVO, UTAH
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THE THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING
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THE THEORY OF
THEATRICAL DANCING
WITH A CHAPTER ON
PANTOMIME
EDITED FROM CARLO BLASIS' CODE OF
TERPSICHORE, WITH THE ORIGINAL PLATES, BY
STEWART D. HEADLAM.
LONDON :
PUBLISHED BY FREDERICK VERINDER,
8, DUKE STREET, ADELPHI, W.C.
PRICE, THREE SHILLINGS AND SIXPENCE.
1888.
For all the arts of mankind, and womankind, are only rightly
learned or practised, when they are so with the definite
purpose of pleasing or teaching others. A child dancing for
its own delight, a lamb leaping, or a fawn at play, are happy
and holy creatures ; but they are not artists. An artist is —
and recollect this definition, A PERSON WHO HAS
SUBMITTED TO A LAW WHICH IT WAS PAINFUL
TO OBEY, THAT HE MAY BESTOW A DELIGHT
WHICH IT IS GRACIOUS TO BESTOW.
John Ruskin.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS TO PUPILS ...
CHAPTER II.
STUDY OF THE LEGS
PAGE.
1
11
STUDY OF THE BODY
STUDY OF THE ARMS
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
PRINCIPAL POSITIONS, WITH THEIR DERIVATIVES ; PRE-
PARATIONS AND TERMINATIONS ; OF STEPS AND
Temps ; POSES, ATTITUDES, ARABESQUES, GROUPS AND
ATTITUDES de genre
ACTION OF THE HEAD
ATTITUDE
OF THE CENTRE OF GRAVITY IN A DANCER ...
COUNTERPOISE
OF THE FIGURE THAT MOVES AGAINST THE WIND
19
22
28 to 33
28
29
29
29
30
CHAPTER VI.
OF Temps, STEPS, ENCHAINEMENTS AND OF THE
ENTRECHAT ... ... ... ... ... 34
OBSERVATIONS ON THE ENTRECHAT, AND ON THE
MANNER OF BEATING AND CROSSING IN CLOSE-
LEGGED AND BOW-LEGGED DANCERS ... ... 30
CLOSE-LEGGED DANCERS ... ... ... ... 3G
BOW-LEGGED DANCERS ... ... ... ... 30
OBSERVATIONS ON A PERSON IN THE ACT OF LEAPING
FROM THE GROUND ... ... ... ... 37
CHAPTER VII.
PIROUETTES— OF THE MANNER IN WHICH A DANCER
MUST PREPARE FOR THE EXECUTION OF THE
PIROUETTES: OF THE VARIOUS POSITIONS SHE MAY
TAKE IN TURNING, AND OF THE DIFFERENT WAYS
OF STOPPING AND ENDING THEM ... ... 39
CHAPTER VIII.
OF THE SERIOUS DANCER, THE DEMI-CHARACTERE, AND
THE COMIC DANCER ... ... ... ... 46
CHAPTER IX.
THE PRECEPTOR,~NEW METHOD OF INSTRUCTION ... 51
DIAGRAMS OF POSITION .. ... ... ... 55
OF THE COMPOSITION OF STEPS ... ... ... 5G
CHAPTER X.
FIRST RXERCISE— FIRST POSITIONS ... ... ... 53
BATTEMENTS
RONDS DE JAMBES ...
OF THE TEMPS
OF THE PAS
OF THE LESSON
GAIT
CHAPTER XI.
HAROLD B. LEE LIBRARY
BR1GHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY
58
CO
61
61
61
62
ON PANTOMIME AND THE STUDIES NECESSARY FOR A
PANTOMIMIC PERFORMER ... ... ... 64
ON THE ORIGIN OF THOSE MASKED CHARACTERS WHO
PERFORM IN ITALIAN COMEDIES ... ... 85
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES ... ... ... 90
PREFACE.
My chief object in producing this book is to
enable the public to understand better than
they do at present how difficult the art of
Dancing is, and so to induce them to appre-
ciate more fully the Dancers and their work.
If, as Mr. Ruskin teaches, the artist is a
person who has submitted to a law which it
was painful to obey, in order to bestow a
delight which it is gracious to bestow, the
Dancers are artists indeed. And Dancing
is an art, let the public remember, which
depends on their immediate support for its
very existence. The Poet, the Painter, the
Sculptor can work for posterity : but the
Dancer's art is fugitive, not permanent. If
the contemporaries of any Dancer fail through
ignorance, or dulness, or bigotry, to appre-
ciate her, no one else can. They have
prevented her God-given faculties from having
the influence, which they were intended to
have.
I hope also, that this book may be of some
little use and encouragement to the Dancers
themselves in their work. It will not, of
course, teach them how to dance any more
than it will teach the public and the critics
X. PREFACE.
how to understand dancing : the Dancer can
only learn her art from a living master and
by constant practise ; and I believe, also,
that only one who has had practical ex-
perience of the art is capable of guiding
and teaching the public to appreciate it
thoroughly : but all the same, a careful study
of this book, especially a constant comparison
of the text with the Plates, will give the
Dancer many useful hints, and will enable
anyone who is a frequent spectator of Ballet
Dancing to understand much more of the art
than he otherwise would have done.
The Theory of Theatrical Dancing with
the chapter on Pantomime form Parts II.
and III. of Carlo Blasis' most important
work, " The Code of Terpsichore," which,
as he says, in his preface, was " conceived
and executed in the heart of England," and
was published in London in August, 1828,
when the author was principal dancer at the
King's Theatre (i.e. Her Majesty's). Carlo
Blasis was then aged twenty-five, having been
born at Naples on November 4th, 1803.
He made his first appearance as a principal
dancer at Marseilles, at the age of twelve,
and his debut in Paris a few years after.
While residing in Paris he took for his master
and guide the celebrated Gardel, who selected
for him as partner in his various performances,
PREFACE. XI.
the excellent and renowned danseuse of the
opera, Mdlle. Gosselin, and afterwards, Mdlle.
Le Gallois, an artist of classical taste. After
leaving Paris, he danced in the principal
cities in the north of France, and was then
engaged at the La Scala, Milan, where he
worked during fourteen seasons, subsequently
visiting all the principal cities of Italy.
After again performing in France, he came over
to England in 1826, and was triumphantly
received as Dancer, Actor, and Ballet com-
poser. The Code of Terpsichore, which he
published here, contains, besides the chapters
on the theory of Theatrical Dancing and on
Pantomime, a history of Dancing, an essay
on Dramatic art as applied to Dancing, a
collection of the author's Ballets in various
styles, and some chapters on Private Dancing.
The work contains also, besides the Plates
which are here reproduced, some Ballet music,
composed by his sisters, Virginia and
Teresa Blasis, and the book is dedicated to
Virginia, who was then Prima Donna of the
Italian Opera at Paris. The English trans-
lation (on which this is founded) was made
by "R. Barton, under the author's immediate
inspection." The book was also published
in France and Italy. After leaving England
Blasis went to Naples, where at the San
Carlo, while rehearsing a grand pas de trois
XII. PREFACE.
with Mesdames Brugnoti and Vaguemoulin,
he met with an accident to his left leg: from
this accident he never thoroughly recovered,
and therefore determined " to leave the
theatre before the theatre left him/' and to
devote himself entirely to the composition of
Ballets and to " chirographic " art.
In 1837, Blasis and his wife were appointed
to preside over the Imperial Academy of
Dancing and Pantomime at Milan, and their
school soon became the first of its kind. An
interesting account of this school, (which was
supported by the Government, and in which
those young persons who were deemed quali-
fied for the work by a Commission acting
under Government received gratuitous in-
struction in Dancing and Pantomime) will be
found in the second part of Carlo Blasis'
notes upon Dancing, from which book these
few facts about his life are taken.
During his long engagement at the
Academy in Milan, Blasis and his wife —
Annunziata Ramaccini — (of whose sister
Guidetta's dancing as Juliet at Venice, Lord
Byron said that it exhibited all the powerful
feeling to be found in Shakespeare) paid
frequent visits to England. In 1847 ne was
in England for the sixth time, and was
engaged as composer of Ballets, first at Drury
Lane and then at Covent Garden.
PREFACE. Xlll.
These few details as to his life and work
are, I think, sufficient to prove that Carlo
Blasis is well entitled to speak with authority
on the Art of Dancing.
Of course, there are some to whom the
art of Dancing offers no charms : superfine
philosophers and very stern Puritans will
have none of it : man delights them not, nor
woman neither, and therefore, no wonder
that from them the players get but Lenten
entertainment. But the great mass of the
people are, I am convinced, pleased and
interested with beautiful Dancing, and will be
glad to know7 and understand a little more
about it : while those who go so far as to
maintain that the human body is the temple
of the Holy Ghost, will be enthusiastic
supporters of the Dancers who, after much
education and discipline, enable it to speak
to us with the various poetry of vital motion.
If the study of this book enables only a
few men and women to appreciate more fully
and more reasonably a beautiful art ; above
all, if it gives any kind of encouragement to
our English Dancers to take heart of grace
and do the best for their art among the many
difficulties with which they are surrounded, I
shall be abundantly satisfied. The strain
and stress of our modern competitive life, the
failure of the State to carry out to the full
XI PKEFACE.
the education of the people in art as well as
in other things, the absence of any regular
school permanently connected with a Theatre
or Opera, in which English Dancers can be
trained, and so become secure, if they are
competent, of a position and means of liveli-
hood, naturally discourages and often abso-
lutely prevents the English Dancers from
giving that energy and time to Practise which
is so entirely necessary for all who would be
perfect in the art. But there are not wanting
signs that wise laws and rational government
will, before many generations are passed,
alter this state of things. Let the dancers
then do their best under the difficulties which
surround them, and at any rate hand down
to those better times the best traditions of
the past.
EXTRACT FROM THE PREFACE TO THE
CODE OF TERPSICHORE.
The works hitherto published on the Art of Dancing,
Ballets and Pantomime, are few in number, and, in
the opinion of those best qualified to judge, deficient in
real merit and general utility. The subject has
certainly been treated by Noverre in a masterly
manner, considering the time when he wrote and the
apparent intention of his labours ; he threw many new
and brilliant lights upon the art, but his letters were
more adapted to instruct the professor, than to improve
the pupil, even at the time of their publication, and the
art has since advanced with such rapidity that his
works are now of little use to either. The greater part
of those who have written upon this subject seem to
have been persons of taste, talent and learning ; but
they evidently were not dancers ; so that, however
attractive their productions may be to the general
reader, the man of fashion, or the literary man, they
are of little practical utility to the actor, the dancer or
the Ballet-master. They contain a succession of
theoretical and unconnected ideas, but do not develope
any method of study and practice in all the various
branches of the art. In fact, a practical work adapted
to the present time, and calculated at once to assist
the professor, to enlighten and amuse the amateur, and
to instruct the student, appears for long to have been a
desideratum. Impressed with the truth of these
remarks, after several years of study, research and
XVI. EXTRACT.
practical experience, encouraged by many whose
literary opinions he values most highly, and em-
boldened by the flattering reception which several of
his works have met with in France, Italy and Spain, the
author has resolved upon undertaking the composition
of a large and comprehensive work, upon the origin,
progress, theory and practice of dancing, including also
treatises upon the composition and execution of Ballets
& Action, or Pantomimical Ballets. He has proposed
and introduced improvements as he advances, and
offered a new method of instruction which is more
certain, as well as shorter, than anything hitherto
known. He has endeavoured to give a greater latitude
to Pantomime than has yet been allowed to that art,
applying the rules and various styles of the regular
drama to the chorographical composition. He has
further attempted to demonstrate that Ballets should
not be made mere divevtisements, or dancing spectacles,
and has restored his art to that place among the Fine
Arts to which it may justly lay claim ; for in fact all the
passions of the human heart, the comic, the serious, the
terrible, the ludicrous, may be perfectly expressed by
a skilful Ballet-master, and an accomplished Panto-
mimic actor. The author has endeavoured to treat the
subject in such a manner as to enlighten and instruct
those who study and profess the art, and at the same
time so as to interest persons of taste and learning and
readers in general.
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING,
" Que la danse toujours, ou gaie ou serieuse,
Soil de nos sentimens V image ingenieuse ;
Que tous ses mouvemens dit camr soient les echos
Les gestes un langage, et ses pas des tableaux ! "
Delille.
CHAPTEK I.
Genekal Insteuctions to Pupils.
You who devote yourselves to the enchanting
Terpsichore, and aspire to an honourable rank among
her votaries; who are gifted by nature with every
quality necessary to obtain admission into her
temples, and are predetermined to leave nothing
undone that may help to lead you to perfection,
attentively observe the following instructions : —
Success or failure in all studies chiefly depends on
the manner in which they are commenced. Your first
attention must therefore be directed to the choice of a
master, with whom you may run no hazard of being
led astray. All professors have not issued from good
schools, and few have distinguished themselves in the
art which they pretend to teach. Many there are of
ordinary abilities who, far from increasing the number
of good dancers, are daily diminishing it, and whose
defective mode of instruction imparts a variety of
vicious habits, which the pupil afterwards finds
A THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
extremely difficult, nay, sometimes impossible, to
eradicate. You must not either follow the precepts
of simple unpractised theorists, utterly incapable of
demonstrating clearly the true principles of the art :
nor be guided by the imaginary schemes of innovating
speculators, who, whilst they think themselves
contributing towards the advancement of the elemen-
tary rules of dancing are gradually working its
destruction.
Carefully shun the baneful lessons of such
preceptors, and seek to place yourself under the direc-
tion of an experienced master, whose knowledge and
talents will serve as true guides to perfection, and
point out the path that leads to pre-eminence.
In the first place I recommend you seriously to
consider your personal qualifications and mental dis-
position for the art you attempt to learn. Can you
be passionately fond of it ? Can your chief delight be
concentrated in its study and practice ? Are you in
most respects adapted to it ? If in yourself you meet
with a negative to these questions never expect to
excel or even to become "tolerable" or "passable."
Do not allow yourself to be discouraged by difficulties.
Every obstacle is surmounted by perseverance and
reiterated practice. Eemember the painter's advice to
his pupils : " Nulla dies sine linea." Nothing is of
greater importance in dancing than frequent practice ;
to masters even it is necessary, to students in-
dispensable. No other art demands a stricter atten-
tion in this particular : without it she who has made
herself perfect cannot long remain so, she soon loses
part of what has cost her so much labour to acquire,
her equilibrium becomes less steady, her springs less
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 3
elastic, and she at length finds that through a remis-
sion of diligence she has much to do over again.
This is not the case with music and singing ; a good
ear, a fine voice, are usually sufficient, with a few
years of moderate study, to conquer all difficulties.
Nor does painting require such intense application
both from learners and professors as dancing, which,
like all other bodily exercises, cannot be acquired and
retained without the utmost study and assiduity. Do
not therefore let twenty-four hours pass without
practising. The pupil that frequently interrupts her
studies opposes a considerable impediment to her
progress. All the lessons that she takes, when widely
separated one from the other, can be of no service
towards making her a good dancer; and are little
else than the loss of so much time which I would
advise her to spend in a more profitable manner.
Avoid, however, running into an opposite extreme, for
too much practice is often as prejudicial as too little,
Excess in everything is a fault : let me remind you of
the philosopher's maxim: " La moderation est le tresor
du sage."
Be temperate and sober if you desire to become a
finished dancer. To render yourself capable of
sacrificing before the shrine of Terpsichore, partially
renounce every pleasure but that which the goddess
affords. Let no other exercise be intermingled with
dancing: riding, fencing, running are all powerful
enemies to the learner's advancement.
Do not rely on your own natural qualities in such
a way as to neglect to study or practice as much as
those to whom nature has been less liberal : for were
you to possess the symmetry of the Apollo Belvedere,
4 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
the Antinous, or the Medicean Venus, together
with the happiest endowments, you would have but
little reason to expect to attain excellence in your
profession without study, industry, and perseverance.
Particularly attend to the carriage of your body
and arms. Let their motions be easy, graceful, and
always in accordance with those of the legs. Display
your form with taste and elegance, but beware of
affectation. In the lessons and exercises pay an equal
regard to both legs, lest the execution of the one
surpass that of the other. I have seen many dance
with one leg only ; them I compare to painters that
can draw figures but on one side. Dancers and
painters of such limited talent are certainly not to be
considered as good artists.
Take especial care to acquire perpendicularity and an
exact equilibrium. In your performance be correct
and very precise ; in your steps brilliant and light ;
in every attitude natural and elegant. A good dancer
ought always to be able to serve for a model to the
sculptor and painter. This is perhaps the acme of
perfection and the goal that all should endeavour to
reach. Throw a sort of abandon into your positions,
groups and arabesques: let your countenance be
animated and expressive; siano le attitudini degli
uomini con le loro membra in tal modo disposte, che
con quelle si dimostri V intenzione del loro animo.
These words of the great Leonardo should be as deeply
engraved in the memory of the actor and dancer as
in that of the painter.
" Les gestes et les pas d' un mutuel accord
Peignent (de l'ame) la meme ivresse et le meme transport."
Borate
THEORY OF THEATKICAL DANCING. 5
Be vigorous but avoid stiffness: seek to acquire
a facility of spring, that your entrechats may be easy,
precise, and well crossed. Kapidity is also very
pleasing in a dancer ; lightness still more so ; the
one imparts a brilliancy to the performance, the other
has in it something of an aerial appearance that
charms the eye of the spectator. Observe the
ballon, nothing can be more delightful than to see
you bounding with graceful elasticity in your steps,
scarcely touching the ground, and seeming at every
moment on the point of flying into the air.
Preserve a perfect equilibrium in the execution of
your pirouettes, and be careful how you begin and
end them. Tread with assurance and uprightness,
holding your body and limbs as the following chapters
will direct. Use your utmost endeavour to twirl
delicately on the point of your toes ; this is the most
finished and agreeable style of execution ; for what
can be more unpleasing to the sight than a heavy,
clumsy dancer, who twists about alternately on her
heels and toes, and uncouthly jerks her body at each
revolution of her pirouette ?
Attentively study the invention of steps; try to
vary incessantly your enchainemsnts, figures, attitudes
and groups. " Variety " says Dauberval, " is one of
the great charms of nature ; nor can you please the
beholder for any length of time, but in often changing
your compositions."
Enchainements in dancing are very numerous.
Every good dancer has her own peculiar mode of
combining her " phrases," steps, &c. Form there-
fore a style of your own, as originality is the chief
means to procure yourself distinction. By copying
6 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
others you may, perhaps, sometimes excel, but the
absence of novelty will, unquestionably, deprive your
dancing of all attraction.
" II en est de la danse comme de la musique et des
danseurs comme des musicien: notre art n'est pas
plus riche en pas fondamenteaux que la musique P est
en notes ; mais nous avons des octaves, des rondes, des
blanches, des noires, des croches, des temps a compter,
et une mesure a suivre ; ce melange d'un petit
nombre des pas et d'une petite quantite de notes offre
une multitude d'enchainements et de traits varies :
le gout et le genie trouvent toujours une source de
nouveautes en arrangeant et en retournant, cette
petite portion de notes et de pas de mille sens et de
mille manieres differentes : ce sont done ces pas lent
et soutenus, cespasvifs, precipites; et ces temps plus ou
moins ouverts, que forment cette diver site continuelle."
Imitate the art of painting in your manner of com-
bining and arranging : let all the parts of your picture
be in strict harmony with one another, the principal
effect spirited, every tint (if the expression may be
allowed in speaking of the modulation of steps, atti-
tudes, &c.) flowing easily into the next, and the whole
finished off with softness and taste. Keep a vigilant
ear on the movements, rests and cadences of the
music, that your dancing may be in exact concert
with its accompaniment. Everything depends on
this melodious union, and when really perfect it is
charming in the extreme. Not an eye can follow the
performer without delight, not an ear, however
unsusceptible of the impressions which music conveys,
can listen without being worked upon by a combina-
tion so harmonious and ravishing.
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 7
Observe with attention and judiciously examine
all that concerns your art. Maturely weigh all
advice that is offered to you, and afterwards make use
of it as your judgment best directs. Do not disdain
even to learn from an inferior. A bad dancer may at
times have in her style of dancing something good
that previously escaped your notice. A middling
figurante, or even one utterly devoid of taste, will be
able now and then to give you salutary counsel.
Do not shrink from rendering yourself importunate
by constantly questioning your teacher : reason freely
with him upon the art you are acquiring : if you fall
into error, blush not to confess your mistake in con-
sulting him, but in every respect profit by his
opinions, follow his directions, and put his precepts
into immediate practice, that they may be thereby
more firmly rooted in your memory.
Never depart from true principles, nor cease to
follow the best guides. Above all, do not permit
yourself to be led astray by the example of some
miserable performers, who enjoy for a while the
applause of an ill-discerning public, by feats of
strength, gambols and ridiculous pirouettes. Be
assured that the laurels of such pitiful performers are
seldom lasting.
The approbation of men of distinction in the art,
the only judges to be esteemed and consulted, is ever
a sufficient stimulus to a dancer of talent, who cannot
but entertain a profound contempt for that praise
which fools lavish on every mountebank they behold.
Ease and softness in the execution of your dance, I
repeat, ought always to be aimed at. In acquiring
these, you show that the exercise is natural to you,
8 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
and that you have overcome the greatest difficulty,
namely, the concealment of art.
When once possessed of this great quality, which I
may term the highest step on the ladder of perfection,
you may claim every suffrage, and justly merit the
name of a finished dancer.
Consider carefully what style of dancing suits you
best. Nothing exhibits a greater want of taste in a
dancer than the choice of a style not at all adapted to
her powers. Can anything be more ridiculous than
the appearance of a tall majestic performer, fit, in
every respect, to pursue the serious branch of her art,
dancing a pas villageois in a little comic ballet. And
on the other hand can anything be more ludicrous
than to see a thick-set dancer of a diminutive stature,
come forward robed in heroic garment and gravely
figure off in slow and mournful adagio. The ancients
have, by the purity of their taste in this respect, set us
an example of severity towards performers of this
stamp, of which the following anecdote is an illustra-
tion:— "A certain actor, very short in person, was
representing Hector, in a play performed at Antioch.
The people, beholding the hero thus transformed into a
dwarf, simultaneously exclaimed, "Astyanactum
videmus, ubi Hector est ? We see Astyanactus before
us, but where is Hector ? " Both the dancer and the
actor should consider their figure and physical powers,
before they adopt any particular style of dancing or
performance, that they may only assume the character
which they are framed by nature to represent.
The union of several branches of the art in one
person is blameable ; especially in the case of certain
second-rate dancers, who, by their endeavours to ape
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 9
the highest favourites of Terpsichore seem bent on
bringing her enchanting art to degradation. But
those who are neither very tall nor very short, and are
endowed with the requisite ability, may exert them-
selves in every kind ; by diligent study and practice
they may even shine in whatever part they take. Not
so with a dancer of high stature : let her exclusively
adopt the serious and heroic kind. Nor with one below
the middle size ; let hers be the pastoral and demi-
caractere. You must always vary your style of
dancing with your dress ; it would be a vicious taste
to make it the same in an Ancient Greek or Roman
costume as in a modern villager's dress. Men of the
most illustrious genius, whether poets, painters, or
musicians, have ever carefully avoided confounding
the character and expression of their different person -
ages and styles. Distinction has always been their
study, follow their example ; such an imitation on
your part will show a sound judgment, and powerfully
assist you in your progress to perfection.
The music of a dance or ballet must be livelier and
of a stronger accent and cadence than vocal music .
and as it is required to significantly accompany a great
variety of sentiments and attitudes, it ought also to
be much more diversified. It is music alone which
can inspire the dancer and actor with that warmth
of expression which a singer derives from words.
Music supplies in the language of the soul, all that
dancing, by its attitudes and gestures, cannot make
known to the spectator.
An anonymous author, speaking of music and
dancing says: " Ces deux arts sont freres, et se
tiennent par la main; les accens lentres et har-
10 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
monieux de l'un excitent les mouvements agreable et
expressifs de r autre ; leurs effets reunis offrent aux
yeux et aux oreilles des tableaux animes ; ces sont
portent au coeur les images interessantes qui les ont
affectes ; le cceur les communique a l'ame ; et le plaisir
qui resulte de l'liarmonie et de l'intelligence des ces
deux arts enchaine le spectateur, et lui fait eprouver
ce que la volupte a de plus seduisant."
Pantomime, unquestionably, expresses a great deal,
but without the accents of musical sounds, melodiously
conveying their appropriate sentiments, it never can
entirely stir the soul.
I shall conclude this chapter by recommending to
your attention the study of drawing and music, as
almost indispensable to make a perfect dancer. By
drawing you acquire better ideas of symmetry,
elegance, and gracefulness, especially if you pursue the
beau ideal which is the aim of this art. Music enables
you to be more precise in your performance, your ears
to be more awake to the time and cadence of the
accompaniment, and all your movements to be made
in strict accord with the rhythm of the tune. Music
and drawing will afford you much facility in composi-
tion also, as whatever be your genius and creative
powers of imagination, one thing is certain, your
productions cannot easily fail of being correct.
11
CHAPTEE II.
Study of the Legs.
In order to manage your legs properly, endeavour
chiefly to acquire a facility of turning them out
completely. To this end, make yourself easy about
your hips, that your thighs may move with freedom
and your knees turn well outwards : all the outward
movements of your legs are thus rendered easy and
graceful. By dint of practice and attention you will
be able to accomplish this without any painful efforts.
A dancer whose hips are much contracted, and
whose legs cannot turn entirely out, is never
esteemed ; as by these defects the performance is
deprived of its greatest charm. But one that is
gifted with freedom and pliancy, that exhibits a foot
well attached to the instep, the point of which
is strong, elastic and low, has a very delightful
appearance.
Some young people are framed by nature with
their limbs turning outwards : they possess therefore
more facility, and succeed to greater advantage than
those whose legs turn towards each other ; a person
of the latter kind indeed can cherish no hopes of
becoming a good dancer, how diligent soever her
labour and study may be. Practice will do no more
than turn her feet, or bend her soles a little down-
wards, but her thighs and knees will remain always
in their natural state.
12 THEOEY OP THEATRICAL DANCING.
Here we perceive how requisite it is that all who
intend devoting themselves to the study of dancing,
should scrupulously examine the make and faculties
of their body before they begin to learn an art in
which it is impossible to succeed without several gifts
of nature.
Be attentive, in practising, to the movements
and position of your insteps ; do not let them relax
in strength and elasticity, nor suffer one of your
ankles to be higher than the other ; to relax the
insteps would be a very serious defect ; make your
insteps as high and graceful as possible, and give them
sufficient strength for the execution of rapid, vigorous
and elevated movements. The action of the instep
principally consists in raising and letting down the
heel. Study above all things to make it easy and
strong, as the equilibrium of the whole body depends
upon it. When you spring upwards the instep
supports the whole weight of the body on coming
down, and by a strong rapid movement makes you
alight on your toes.
The movement of the knee is inseparable from that
of the instep, and differs from it but in being perfect
only when the leg is extended and the point of the
foot low. The movement of the hip is a sort of
guide to that of the knee and instep, as it is impossible
for these last to move unless the hip acts first. In
some steps the hips alone are set in motion as in
entrechats, battements tendus, &c.
Dancers who have not a natural elasticity, or whose
calves are weak in muscle, are compelled to have
recourse to their insteps, and this makes amends in a
great measure for the debility of other parts, but not
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 13
without an immense deal of practice. Daily exercise
gives them also vigour and rapidity, but let them
beware of interrupting their practice if they wish to
get any good from it.
Let the bending of your knee be easy, precise and
elegant. Many dancers imagine that nothing further
is required to be supple and soft, than to bend their
knee very low ; but this is a great error, as too low a
bend makes the dance appear dry and insipid. You
may be wanting in ease and buoyancy no less by
bending too much than by not bending at all. The
reason is obvious, if we consider how subordinate
every motion in dancing is to music. For when the
bend is too low, and a longer time is taken for every
bend than the music allows, you are obliged to make
a sudden spring or rather jerk, to regain the time
which you have for a few instants lost, and this rapid
transition from flexion to tension is extremely harsh,
and produces an effect equally as disagreeable to the
spectator as that which results from stiffness.
What may be called a soft mellowness in dancing
depends in a great degree on a proportionate flexion
of the knees ; but the instep must contribute, by its
elasticity, to the gracefulness of the movement, and
the loins serve as a kind of counterpoise to the
bending, that the spring when the instep rises and
falls may be soft and elegant and the whole may be
in perfect accord and harmony.
Let all your openings resulting from the bending of
the knee, be consistent with this principle, and in their
design strictly uniform with the position of your body
and arms.
If your body is very long, try to raise your legs
11 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
higher than common rules prescribe ; if very short
keep them lower than the usual height. By this
means you conceal the defect that exists in the con-
struction of your body.
In your steps and temps of vigour be energetic and
strong, but at the same time beware lest these
qualities degenerate into faults, by stiffness and a
painful tension of the muscles.
As there are many persons so formed that their
legs are closely joined to each other, and on the
contrary a great number naturally bow-legged, I shall
here point out the means of remedying, or at least of
hiding these two defects.
A person is close-legged when the hips and thighs
are firmly contracted, the knees thick and apparently
joined together, and the lower part of the legs, that is
to say, from the bottom of the calf to the heels,
form a triangle, of which the ground is the base ;
the inside ankles are very large, the instep high, and
the tendon achilles thin, long, and but faintly marked.
(See Plate iii., figure 5.)
The bow-legged person is one in whom the opposite
defect is conspicuous. The thighs are too much
divided, the knees very distant from each other, the
calves do not join, and the light that should be per-
ceived only in certain parts, is seen throughout the
whole length of the legs, which are, therefore, in
appearance very similar to two bows, whose extremi-
ties are turned to each other. Persons of this
description have a long flat foot, their exterior ankles
stick out, and the tendon achilles is thick and too
close to the joints. (See Plate iii., figure 4.)
These two natural defects, so diametrically opposite,
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 15
prove how much the rules of instruction must vary
according to the peculiar make of a pupil, as those
that are fit for the one to pursue, are prejudicial in
the extreme to the other. The studies therefore of two
dancers so different in point of shape cannot in any
manner be the same.
The close-legged dancer must endeavour as much as
possible to separate the parts that are too nearly
united. To succeed in these attempts, let her in the
first place, turn her thighs outwards and move them
in this position, which she is enabled to do by the
freedom of the rotatory movement of the os femoris in
the cotyloid cavity of the hip bones. The knees assisted
by this movement will follow the same direction, and
at length get into their right place. The rotula,
which hinders the knee from bending backwards, will
then fall perpendicularly in the line of the point of
the foot ; and the thighs and legs at length become
perfectly straight, and firmly maintain the stability
of the trunk. In the second place, she ought to keep
a continued flexion in the joint of her knees, and so
make her legs appear more extended than they are in
reality. This is the work of time and practice.
Having once acquired the habit it will almost be im-
possible to make the legs return to their primitive
vicious position, without the most painful and in-
sufferable efforts.
The bow-legged dancer must also try to diminish
her bow-leggedness by drawing her legs as close as
possible to each other. It is requisite to her as to
the close-legged one to practise moving the thighs
outwards. She should moreover keep her knees in
constant extension, that they may thereby acquire
16 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
pliancy and softness, and thus conceal her natural
stiffness ; yet a dancer of this kind can never succeed
in the heroic branch, she should therefore devote
herself to the demi-charactere, or, perhaps, rather
undertake the pastoral and study its characteristic
steps.
The close-legged dancer is tolerably well adapted to
the serious dance and the dance demi-charactere
and is in general far more useful than the preceding.
Her execution is easier, her movements more delicate,
natural, and graceful ; but as she seldom possesses
the same strength as the former, she is often
compelled to have recourse to the assistance of her
instep. In the performance of entrechats she may not
be brilliant, but she can be always correct and
elegant. Such a dancer may even sometimes aspire
to perfection in every branch, provided the height of
her stature throws no impediment in the way.
A close-legged dancer should preserve a gentle
flexibility in her execution, and never extend her
knees, excepting at the termination of openings, steps,
attitudes, &c, by this means she conceals her natural
closeness. A bow-legged dancer must, on the contrary,
be stretched out as stiff as possible, always avoiding
hardness, to which such a mode of performance
naturally tends, and cross her legs very closely, so
that their union may decrease, in a great measure,
the interval that would otherwise exist between them.
But notwithstanding all her efforts, she has not the
same chance of success as the close legged performer ;
she is usually very strong and vigorous, her muscles
are therefore less pliable and her joints cannot act
with much freedom or ease. Let it be also remem-
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 17
bered, that if this defect of bow-leggedness proceeds
from the natural construction of the bones, every
attempt to remedy or amend it must prove fruitless.
Art is then of no avail.
Positions in Dancing.
First position, figure 1, Plate i.
Second position, figure 2, Plate ii.
Second position on the toes, figure 3, Plate ii.
Third position, figure 3, Plate i.
Fourth position, (side view) figure 1, Plate ii.
Fifth position, figure 4, Plate i.
Fifth position on the toes, figure 5, Plate i.
N.B. In the second position the distance between
the two heels is the length of the foot. In the third
position the feet must be only half crossed.
Bending in the first position, figure 4, Plate ii.
N.B. The position, on the toes of the first, third
and fourth position, and in bending in all except the
first, are omitted in order not unnecessarily to increase
the number of the Plates ; these positions are very
easily understood and can be executed without the
assistance of Plates.
Method of holding oneself in practising, figure 5,
Plate ii.
Physical construction of the close-legged pupil,
figure 5, Plate iii.
Physical construction of the bow-legged pupil,
figure 4, Plate iii.
N.B. The delineator has somewhat exaggerated
the lines of these figures for the purpose of
better exhibiting to the pupil those defective
constructions.
B
18 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
A dancer at the second position in the air and on
the heel, figure 5, Plate ii.
A dancer at the second position, in the air and on
the toes, figure 1, Plate vi.
A dancer at the second position in the air and
holding out the foot pointed (side view), figure
1, Plate iv.
A dancer at the fourth position on the toes in the
air holding out the foot pointed, (front view)
figure 2, Plate iv.
A dancer at the fourth position in the air holding
out the foot pointed behind, figure 3, Plate iv.
Position of the legs in poses and different attitude.
Plates v., vi., vii., viii., ix.
Position of the legs in arabesques, Plates x., xi., xii,
N.B. In arabesques, and several other attitudes,
the feet must not be entirely turned ; if they were,
these positions would lose their gracefulness.
19
CHAPTEE III.
Study of the Body.
Your body should be, as a rule, erect and upright on
your legs, except in certain attitudes, and especially
in the arabesques, when it must lean forwards or
backwards according to the position you adopt.
You should always be careful to keep it equally poised
upon your thighs. Throw your chest out and hold
your waist in as much as you can. In your perform-
ance preserve continually a gentle bend, and much
firmness about the loins. Let your shoulders be
low, your head high, your countenance animated and
expressive.
A dancer who wishes to charm the beholder's eye
must show all the elegance that her fancy can
inspire her with, in the carriage of her body, the easy
display of her limbs, and the gracefulness of every
attitude into which she throws herself. But let no
affectation intermingle with your dancing; that
would mar everything. By due attention to these
particulars, you will make each of your accomplish-
ments shine forth to their greatest advantage, and
always be rewarded for the labour you have taken.
The elegance of the upper part of the body is
specially to be attended to by a dancer, as in that, one
of her principal merits consists. Carry your bust
gracefully, impart to its motions and oppositions a
20 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
certain abandon, and do not let it lose in any way the
beauty of its pose or the purity of its design.
Your head, shoulders, and bust, ought to be
supported and encircled by your arms, and so precisely
follow their motions, that they may present altogether
a graceful ensemble ; and as we have already remarked,
the legs must, of course, participate in the harmony
of these movements.
In the performance of your steps let your body be
quiet, firm and unshaken, yet easy and pliant,
following the play of the legs and arms. But
especially beware of stiffness. She who, whilst dancing,
moves her body by jerks, raises her shoulders at
each movement of her legs — bends or relaxes her loins
to facilitate the executions of her temps, and who
shews by the distortion of her features, how much pain
her performance occasions her, is, unquestionably, an
object of ridicule, and the name of a grotesque would
suit her much better than the name of a dancer.
I have repeatedly seen examples of this defective
mode of dancing; and cannot but attribute it
principally to the negligence of masters, who, over-
anxious to see their pupils exhibit on a public stage
leave them to themselves before they have completed
their studies. The public too, by their too indulgent
applause or their want of taste, considerably increase
the number of this class of dancers, or more properly
speaking, leapers, who, finding themselves so much
encouraged, immediately imagine that they have
attained the summit of perfection in their art.
— le vulgaire s'extasie
Aux tours de force aux entrechats.
L'Hospital.
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 21
Such miserable dancers ought to be banished from
the boards of every theatre, as mountebanks possessed
of no gift save that of diffusing bad taste.
Simple position of the body, figure 1, Plate i.
Epaulement, opposition of the body, figures 3 and 4,
Plate i.
Position of the body in poses and different
attitudes Plates v. vi. vii. viii. ix.
Position of the body in arabesques Plates x. xi. xii.
N.B. In arabesques the body goes out of a
perpendicular line and inclines forwards or backwards
in a pleasing abandon.
22
CHAPTER IV,
Study of the Arms.
The position, opposition and carriage of the arms are,
perhaps, the three most difficult things in dancing,
and, therefore, demand particular study and attention.
Noverre, speaking of opposition, says, that " of all
the movements executed in dancing, the opposition or
contrast of the arms to the feet, is the most natural
and at the same time, the least attended to. Observe,
for instance, a number of persons walking, you will
see that when they place the right foot forward the
left arm naturally falls forward also, and is thus in
opposition with it. This appears to me a general
rule, and from thence it is that skilful dancers have
acquired the true manner of carrying their arms and
keeping them in a constant opposition to the feet,
that is to say, that when the left arm is behind, th e
left leg must be before."
Noverre does not, in my opinion, treat of the opposi-
tion with that clearness and exactness which the
subject requires ; indeed, few writers have done so.
The obscurity therefore, that has existed on this
important matter in dancing, has occasioned it to
be an object of continual controversy among pro-
fessional dancers.
Let us endeavour to elucidate it a little. The oppo-
sition of one part of a moving solid to another part is a
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 23
law of equilibrium by which the gravitating powers
are divided. This is precisely what Noverre wishes
to demonstrate in his example of the gait of a man.
And when he further says that opposition takes
place each time that the man or dancer puts one leg
forward, he means to point out that if such foot so
placed before be the right, the left arm must naturally
be carried forward at the same instant, whilst the
opposite limbs remain behind ; the whole counterpois-
ing the deviation of the body from the central line of
gravity. This opposition gives the dancer a very
graceful appearance, as she thereby avoids that
uniformity of lines in her person so unbecoming a
true favourite of Terpsichore.
For examples of opposition see figure 3, Plate i.,
figure 4, Plate iv., and all the figures of Plate viii.
There are two methods of moving the wrists —
upwards and downwards. When the movement is to
be made downwards, the wrist must be bent inwards,
the hand moving in a half circle, and returning to its
first position ; but care must be taken not to bend the
wrist too violently for it would then appear as if broken.
With respect to the second movement, which is
upwards, the wrist must be bent in a rounded position
allowing the hand to turn upwards, in making a half
turn ; by this movement the hand will be found in
the first position in agreement with the arms.
The elbow, as well as the wrist, has its movement
downwards and upwards, with this difference, that
when you bend the elbows, the wrists are bent also,
which prevents the arms from appearing stiff, im-
parting to them much grace. Still it is not necessary
to bend the wrists much, as that would produce an
24 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
extravagant effect, the same thing may be observed
of the legs when the knee is bent, it is then the
instep that completes the movement, by raising the
foot in the same manner as the wrist and elbow.
Thus in order to move them downwards, the arms
being placed high, the elbow and wrist must be bent,
and when the arms are bent also, they must be
extended in order to complete the movement. They
will then return to the first position in which they
were at the beginning. When you perform a movement
with the wrists, they should be bent and then
straightened in the same manner as when they are
accompanied by the movements of the elbows.
As to the second movement, which is upwards, the
hands being down, the wrists and elbows must be
bent, forming a circle, taking care that both arms
form at the same time a motion exactly similar ; and
then return to their first position.
A dancer who holds and moves her arms in a
graceful manner, and according to the true rules of
art, shows that she has studied in a good school, and
her performance is invariably correct. Few artists
distinguish themselves by a good style of action with
their arms ; which deficiency generally proceeds from
the mediocrity of the principles they receive from
bad teaching, or else it originates in their own negli-
gence, believing, as I have known many do, that if
they possess a brilliant mode of execution with their
legs, they can do very well without the fine additional
ornament of the arms ; and thus they exempt them-
selves from the labour which so important a study
requires.
When the arms accompany each movement of the
THEOEY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 25
body with exactitude, they may be compared to the
frame that sets off a picture. But if the frame is so
constructed as not to suit the painting, however well
done the latter may be, much of its effect is unquestion-
ably lost. Even so it is with a dancer; for what
gracefulness soever she may display in the performance
of her steps, unless her arms be lithsome, and in
strict harmony with her legs, her dance can have no
spirit nor liveliness; and she presents the same
insipid appearance as a painting out of its frame, or
in one not at all adapted to it.
Should you not be favoured with well made rounded
arms, you cannot bestow too much attention on
them, endeavouring to supply by art what nature
has left you defective in. Diligent study and exercise
often render a thin, long, angular arm, tolerably round
and elegant.
Learn also to hold your arms as best accords with
your physical construction. If you are short in
stature let them be higher than the general rule pre-
scribes, and if tall let them be lower. A good dancer
should omit nothing that may tend to remedy or
conceal her personal defects. It is one of those
necessary accomplishments to which the mind of
every one who desires to become a skilful artist
ought to be directed.
Take care to make your arms so encircling that the
points of your elbows may be imperceptible. From a
want of proper attention in this respect they are
deprived of all softness and elegance, and instead of
presenting to the eye rounded and graceful outlines,
(see figures 1, 4, 5, Plate i.) they exhibit nothing
but a series of angles destitute of taste and graceful-
Z() THEORY OP THEATRICAL DANCING.
ness (see figures 1, 2, 3, Plate iii.) unpleasing to the
spectator, and imparting to all your attitudes a
grotesque and caricature-like appearance which
make you only an object of ridicule to the painter.
Let the point of junction of the shoulder-bone with
the lower bone of the arm be level with the palm of
your hand, your shoulders low and always motion-
less, your elbows round and well supported, and your
lingers gracefully grouped together. The position and
carriage of your arms must be soft and easy. Let
them make no extravagant movement, nor permit
the least stiffness to creep into their motions.
Beware lest they be jerked by the action and reaction
of your legs : this is a great fault and sufficient to
spoil a dancer, what perfection soever she may
possess in the exercise of her legs.
Simple position of the arms, figure 1, Plate i.
Position of the wrist and fingers, figure 2, Plate i.
Arms in the second position, figure 1, Plate i.
Arms in opposition, figure 4, Plate i.
Arms encircling above the head, figure 5, Plate i.
Half-arm, or Demi bras, figure 2, Plate ii.
Opposition of the Demi bras, figure 3, Plate i.
Position of the arms in various attitudes, Plates
v., vi., vii., viii., ix.
Position of the arms in arabesques, Plates x.,
xi., xii.
N.B. It must be observed that in arabesques the
position of the arms deviates from the general rule ;
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 27
it must, therefore, be left to the good taste of the
dancer, who must arrange them as gracefully as
possible.
Position of the hands in different attitudes and
arabesques, figure 5, Plate v.
Defective positions of the arms, figures 1, 2, 3,
Plate in.
28
CHAPTEE V.
Principal positions with their derivatives,
PREPARATIONS AND TERMINATIONS OP STEPS AND Temps ;
POSES ,* ATTITUDES, ARABESQUES, GROUPS AND
attitudes De Genre.
Always keep your body well up, and especially your
head, even in the least emphasized poses (see Plate v.) :
if not, your performance will be void of expression,
and your position or attitude become insipid. In
some of the first positions of dancing the head is
placed fronting ; these are poses of attitude.
Action of the Head.
Never let your head rest perpendicularly upon your
shoulders, but incline it a little to the right or to the
left, whether your eyes are cast up or downwards or
straight forwards ; as it is essential that it should
have a pleasing yet natural vivacity of motion, and
not appear inactive and heavy.
Endeavour to hold your body in a perfect
equilibrium ; to which end never let your limbs depart
from the perpendicular line that should fall from the
centre of the collar bone down between the ankles of
the two feet. (See figures 4 and 5, Plate i. ; figure 5,
Plate ii. ; figure 1, Plate iv. ; figures 1, 2, 3, 4, Plate
v, ; figure 4, Plate vii. ; see also chapter iii.)
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 29
A ttitude .
T he pit of the neck must correspond perpendicularly
with the feet ; if you move one leg forwards the pit
then goes back out of its perpendicularity with the
foot, if backwards it is thrown to the front and thus
changes its place with every variation of position.
Besides a graceful carriage let the dancer acquire
uprightness: in forming an exact counterpoise with
every part of her frame, she will thus enable herself
to support her body on one leg and also to obtain
an elegant style of attitude upon both. (See Plates
viii., x., xi., xii.)
Of the centre of gravity in a dancer.
The weight of a man standing on one leg is divided
in an equal manner on the point that sustains the
whole, (see figure 1, Plate x.,) and as he moves, the
central line of gravity passes exactly through the
middle of the leg that rests wholly on the ground.
(See figure 1, Plate viii.)
Counterpoise.
A person that carries a burden placed out of the
central line of her body, must necessarily add from
her own weight, a balance sufficient to counter-balance
it on the opposite side, and thus form a true equili-
brium round the centre of gravity. (See figure 2,
Plate viii.) But in certain attitudes which the dancer
throws herself into as she springs from the ground,
as also in inclined arabesques such as that in figure
8, Plate xi., the central line of gravity is not placed
in the same manner as it is in the figures of the
Plates i., ii., iii., iv. See also figure 1, Plate ix.,
figure 1, Plate x., as relating to this remark.
30 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
Of the figure that moves against the wind.
A dancer that goes against the wind, in whatever
direction it may be, ought to preserve with exactitude
the centre of gravity of the line that supports her.
See figures 2, 4, and 5, seen from different sides, Plate
xiv. See also figures 1, 2, 3, Plate xiv., and figure 4,
same Plate, which represents a Bacchanalian group
which I composed during the first year that I was
engaged at the theatre La Scala at Milan.
That peculiar position technically termed attitude is
the most elegant but at the same time the most
difficult which dancing comprises. It is, in my opinion,
a kind of imitation of the attitude so much admired in
the Mercury of John of Bologna. See figures 1 and 2,
Plate viii., which exhibit two side views of it ; see
also figure 1, Plate ix., representing the statue
of Mercury. A dancer that studies this attitude
and performs it well, is sure to be noticed as
one who has acquired the best notions of her art.
Nothing can be more agreeable to the eye than those
charming positions which we call arabesques and which
we have derived from antique basso relievos, from a
few fragments of Greek paintings, and from the
paintings in fresco at the Vatican, executed after the
beautiful designs of Baphael.
Arabica ornamenta, as a term in painting, means
those ornaments composed of plants, shrubs, light
branches and flowers, with which the artist adorns
pictures, panels, friezes, &c. As a term in architecture,
arabesque signifies various fanciful foliages, stalks,
&c, with which pediments and entablature are often
embellished. The taste for this sort of ornament was
THE0KY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 31
brought to us by the Moors and Arabs from whom
the name is taken. Our dancing masters have
also introduced the term into their art, as expressive
of the picturesque groups which they have formed of
male and female dancers, interlaced in a thousand
different manners one with another, by means of
garlands, crowns, hoops entwined with flowers, and
sometimes ancient pastoral instruments which they
hold in their hands. These attitudes, so delightful
and enchanting, remind us of the beautiful Bacchantes
that we see on antique basso relievos, and by their
aerial lightness, their variety, their liveliness, and the
numberless contrasts they successively present, have
in a manner rendered the word arabesque natural and
proper to the art of dancing. I may flatter myself on
being the first to give the precise meaning to this
expression as applied to our art, without which ex-
planation it might afford a motive for derision to
painters and architects to whom it originally and
exclusively belonged.
Dancers should learn from these chaste pieces of
sculpture and painting the real mode of displaying
themselves with taste and gracefulness. They are a
fount of beauty whereto all who aspire to distinction
must resort for purity and correctness of design. In
the Bacchanalian group above mentioned I introduced
with some success various attitudes, arabesques and
groups, the ideas of which I had conceived on seeing
the paintings, bronzes and marbles excavated from
the ruins of Herculaneum, and by these additional
images rendered its appearance more picturesque,
characteristic and animated (see figure 4, Plate xiv.,
the principal group). Those precious monuments of
32
THEOEY OF THEATBICAL DANCIFG.
ancient skill have been repeatedly pronounced the
best models for the painter and sculptor; in my
opinion they are of equal service to the dancer.
Poses, preparations, and endings of steps and
temps, figure 4, Plate iv., figures 1, 2, 3 & 4,
Plate v.
N.B. Enchainements and steps may be also
finished in attitudes and arabesques.
Different attitudes, Plates vi. & vii.
Attitude as technically so denominated, figure 1,
Plate viii.
The same, side view, figure 2, Plate viii.
Different ways of resting in attitudes, figures 3
& 4, Plate viii.
Derivatives of the attitude, figures 2 & 3, Plate
ix.
Example of the attitude of the Mercury of John
of Bologna.
Arabesques Plates x., xi., xii.
Arabesques, on both legs, figure 4, Plate vii.
Arabesques, back view, figures 3 & 4, Plate xi.,
figure 4, Plate vii.
Groups, attitude de genre, Plate xiv.
N.B. I have left out several attitudes and ara-
besques upon one foot resting flat on the ground, and
the same arabesques upon two feet, which are done
by merely putting down the leg that is in the air, as
represented in figure 4, Plate vii,, which is derived
from the arabesque shown in figure 4, Plate xi.
Attitudes, poses and arabesques, may be varied
ad infinitum, for the slightest change in the situation of
the body, in the opposition of the arms, or the motions
of the legs, when all is happily combined, must
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 33
produce an immense diversity. It is the good taste
of the dancer that must decide on the best manner of
combining and changing them, taking especial care
to make them appropriate to the style and character
of her dancing. These modified attitudes are most
practised in the enchainements of groups, similar to
those presented in figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of
Plate xiv.
c
34
CHAPTER VI.
Of Temps, Steps, Enchalnements and of the
Entrechat.
Let your grands temps be wide, bold and easy:
perform them with preciseness; in ending them be
upright and firm on your legs. In all your terre-a-
terre steps you cannot be too active about the instep,
nor bend your feet too much downwards; as the
former gives your execution considerable brilliancy,
and the latter renders it light and graceful.
A truly good dancer ought to throw a sort of light
and shade into her steps, and by great exactness of
performance, distinctly mark each variation she
makes in them. In all your elevations develop a
sinewy strength, and let your steps of elevation
contrast agreeably with the rapidity of your terre-a-
terre steps. Do not, however, forget to regulate your
choice of steps according to the kind of dancing you
have adopted, as also according to your physical
construction.
In your enchainements, let variety and novelty be
your constant aim ; carefully study their composition,
and do all that your taste points out, to make
yourself agreeable. Never intermingle with them
any elevated steps, or steps that require much
strength to perform, and beware lest you relax into
coolness by too long pauses, as the one or the other of
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 35
these faults would unavoidably destroy all the effects
which enchainements produce, when correctly executed
to a quick and lively music.
The entrechat is a light brilliant step, during the
performance of which, the dancer's legs rapidly cross
each other, and then come down again in the fifth
position or attitude upon one leg, as in the entrechat
a cinq, a sept, a neuf> the cabriole, brises and the
ronde-de-jambe en Vair ; all these steps, ending thus
on one leg, may also finish in any of the attitudes
and arabesques pointed out in the plates referred to
at the close of the foregoing chapter. Entrechats
are generally begun with an assemble, coupe or jette :
the body then springs into the air, and the legs pass
to the fifth position to cross and cut.
In entrechats you may cut four, six, eight, ten, and
even twelve times if you possess the requisite strength.
Some can go as far as fourteen, but such efforts have
a disagreeable effect, and occasion nothing more in
the beholder, than wonder at the extraordinary
muscular powers of the leaper. When a dancer
endeavours to make too great a number of cuts, she
cannot finish her entrechat in time, and her body,
shaken by such rapid movements, writhes in a variety
of contortions, that offend the eye of the spectator.
The most elegant entrechats are entrechat a six and the
entrechat a six ouvert done by opening at the third cut
(see Plate xii., figure 4,) and the entrechat a huit.
The following different entrechats may be done in
turning : entrechat a cinq dessus ; entrechat a cinq
dessous ; brise de cote dessns et dessous ; en arriere et en
avant ; entrechat a cinq de cote et en arriere ; sissone
battue en avant et sissone battue derriere ; entrechat a
S6 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
quatre stir une jambe; entrechat a sept en avant et en
arriere; la cabriole a tin et a deux temps; la cabriole
Italienne en avant et en arriere; les deux ronde des
jambes en dehors et en dedans, dec, excepting the
entrechat a cinq de cote et en arriere, the entrechat a
sept en avant and the cabriole. The entrechat a six
may be done in turning.
Observations on the Entrechat and on the manner of
beating and crossing in close-legged and
bow-legged dancers.
In the case of close-legged dancers.
The contraction of the muscles, occasioned by the
efforts of leaping, stiffens each joint, and forces every
part back into its natural place. The knees thus
compelled to turn inwards, regain their primitive
thickness, which greatly hinders the beatings of the
entrechat. The more united are the legs at these
upper parts, and divided at their extremities, the
more incapable are they of beating or crossing ; they
remain there nearly motionless during the action of
the knees, which in consequence appear to rub
uncouthly one against the other, and thus the entrechat
being neither cut, beaten, nor crossed at the feet,
cannot have that rapidity and brilliancy which con-
stitute its principal merit. A good method of studying,
diligent practice, and time, as I have already
intimated, are the only means of remedying this defect.
In the case of bow-legged dancers.
Bow-legged dancers are sinewy, rapid, and brilli-
ant in all things that require more strength than
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 37
agility. Sinewy and light on account of the direction
of their muscular faisceaux, and the thickness and
resistance of their articular ligaments ; rapid because
they cross more low than high, their feet having but
a small distance to perform the beating steps in ; and
brilliant by reason of the light being so very
conspicuous between their legs as they cross or
uncross. This light is precisely what we may term
the light and shade of dancing ; for if the temps of the
entrechat be neither cut nor beaten, but on the
contrary, rubbed or rolled one upon the other, there
is no light to relieve the shade, and the legs, through
being too closely joined, present an indistinct mass,
void of brilliancy and effect. Bow-legged dancers are
usually not very skilful, as they chiefly reckon on
their bodily strength. This very strength it is that
opposes the greatest obstacle to their acquiring ease
and pliancy.
Observations on a person in the act of leaping,
" Nature instructs and acts of itself, without any
assistance from reason. When a person wishes to
leap, he rapidly elevates his arms and shoulders,
which are thus simultaneously set in motion, together
with part of the body, and remain elevated so long as
they are supported by the movement of the body (the
loins of which are bent,) and by the impulse of the
joints or springs of the thighs, knees and feet. This
extension is made in two directions, upwards and
forwards ; the motion to send the body forwards, places
it so at the moment of the leap ; and that destined to
carry it up, makes it describe a large segment of a
circle, rendering the leap yet more rapid."
38 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
Leonardo da Vinci here gives us a true definition of
the actions of a man in leaping, and the means he
employs to spring from the ground. He explains the
strength and impetuosity of the arms and shoulders
and their movements, and the manner in which they
raise the body up after them. He points out the
position of the body bent and resting gracefully on
the hips and knees, which by bending prepare to
give the impulse and facilitate the spring of the instep.
Much study is required to make these movements in
a graceful manner, for if done carelessly nothing can
be more uncouth.
In entrechats and steps of elevation a dancer can
display every attitude and arabesque. According to
my opinion the finest positions are such as are shown
by figures 1, 2, 3, 4, Plate xiii., and by figure 4,
Plate xii.
For entrechats and steps of elevation where the
body is inclining forwards, see figures 2, 4, Plate xiii.
For entrechats and steps of elevation where the body
is inclining backwards, figure 3, Plate xiii. Ordinary
elevation of a dancer, figure 4, Plate xii. Elevation
of two feet in height, figure 5, Plate xii.
Attitudes of a dancer in Temps of elevation and
entrechats. Figure 4, Plate xii., figures 1, 2, 3, 4,
Plate xiii.
Elevation of two feet, figure 5, Plate xii.
39
CHAPTER VII.
Pirouettes.
Of the manner in which a dancer must prepare
for the execution of her plrouettes j of the
various positions she may take in turning,
and of the different ways of stopping
and ending them.
The art of dancing has been carried to so eminent a
degree of perfection by Dauberval, Gardel, Vestris
and other famous artists, that Noverre, who died
during the first period known in the annals of Terpsi-
chore, would have been surprised at the rapidity of
its progress. The dancers of the early part of the last
century were inferior to those who flourished
towards the latter end of it, and still more to those of
the beginning of the present age. "We cannot but
admire the perfection to which modern dancers have
brought their art. They have a much more refined
taste than their predecessors, and their performance
is full of gracefulness and charms. Among our
ancient artists those beautiful temps of perpendicu-
larity and equilibrium, those elegant attitudes and
enchanting arabesques were unknown. That ener-
getic execution, that multiplicity of steps, that variety
of enchainements and pirouettes were not then in
practice, and the rising art, unadorned with these
complicated embellishments, confined the performer
within the narrow limits of simplicity.
40 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
We must, however, grant in favour of our old
masters that they very much excelled us in the
serious and grave kind of dance, and that Dupre and
Vestris the elder, were the most perfect models in
this valued branch of dancing, in which they have
been equalled by very few of their followers. It is
true they possessed not that diversified execution,
that abundance of steps and variety of movements
now in vogue, but they were always extremely correct
in what little they did. At present the art of
dancing is become so complicated, and each dancer
devotes herself so much to every branch, that it is
somewhat difficult to meet with a dancer who succeeds
completely in any one branch.
"Qui trop embrasse, mal etreinte."
" Who aims at much, completes but little."
Pirouettes owe their origin to the surprising
advancement made of late years in dancing; they
were unknown to Noverre and all our old masters,
who thought it impossible to go beyond the three
turns on the instep. The best dancers of the day
prove the contrary, and owing to their steady upright-
ness, and the unshaken equilibrium which they
observe as they revolve round, we may say that the
present execution of pirouettes is really extraordinary.
All good judges, I am confident, will acknowledge this
to be true. They are aware how much labour it costs
to hold oneself erect on one leg, and how much
greater to do so on one's toes. Imagine, therefore, what
difficulty there must be in turning in such a position
without the slightest jerk in any part of the body.
We may reasonably consider Messrs. Gardel and
Vestris as the inventors of pirouettes : the latter, by
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 41
perfecting and diversifying thern, brought them most
into vogue. Succeeding dancers improved on these,
and performed some of all kinds in a most wonderful
manner.
A pirouette of three or four turns in the second
position and stopped in the same, or in an attitude,
offers the greatest proof of a dancer's equilibrium.
Nothing is more difficult in dancing than the perfor-
mance of this pirouette.
Pirouettes require considerable exercise and study.
One whom nature has favoured with pliancy and
agility is always able to perform them gracefully, but
the dancer who is light about the hips, whose legs are
not sufficiently lithsome to open with ease, and who,
therefore, cannot turn well on the instep, never meets
with more than a partial success. Such a dancer
should abandon all thoughts of distinguishing herself
in the higher kind of pirouettes. It is the same with
respect to bow-legged dancers and those who are of
too vigorous a construction, the strength of their
muscles deprives them of flexibility and softness, and
their bodies are ever wavering as they turn round.
Slender and close-legged dancers are far better
adapted to this kind of step than the last mentioned ;
their limbs are more supple and pliant, and in
general more turned out ; three essential qualities in
performing a good pirouette.
The sole of the foot is the true basis on which our
whole machine is supported. A sculptor would be
working in vain were he to rest his statue on a round
and moveable foundation ; it would undoubtedly fall
and be broken to pieces. A dancer for the same
reason must not be seen vacillating on the point of
42 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
support ; but by making use of all her toes as so many
branches or roots, the expansion of which, increasing
the space of ground she rests upon, maintains her
body in a steady equilibrium, she must fasten herself
in a manner to the board and hold herself with firm-
ness and uprightness. If she neglects to do this her
pirouette will be far from pleasing, her foot will lose
its natural shape, and roll backwards and forwards
from the great to the little toe ; this sort of wavering
motion caused by the convexity of the toes, when in
that position, impedes all stability, and by the vacillat-
ing of the instep the equilibrium is entirely lost.
Let your body be steadily fixed on your legs before
you begin to do your pirouette (See figure 3, Plate
vii.) and place your arms in such a position as to give
additional force to the impulse which sends you
round, and also to act as a balance to counterpoise
every part of your body as it revolves on your toes.
Previous to the commencement of a pirouette,
either from the inside or the outside, the dancer may
pause in any sort of attitude or arabesque in which
she intends to end her enchatnement ; but the positions
best suited to her preparation, and that are generally
chosen on account of the body being already upright
on the legs, are the positions represented in figures 3,4,
5, Plate i., figure 4, Plate iv., figures 1, 4, Plate v.,
figure 1, Plate vi., figure 1, Plate viii.
The usual attitudes adopted in the performance
of pirouettes are those of the second position, figure 1,
Plate vi., figure 1, Plate viii., and on the instep, figure
4, Plate ix. But why should dancers limit them-
selves to these positions of the body during the per-
formance of their pirouettes ? When an artist has
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 43
once acquired an easy method of turning on her toes,
a little exercise will soon enable her to turn in an
arabesque or any other different attitude. I was one
of the first to go out of the common track in this
respect and, possessing much facility in the perform-
ance of pirouettes, I obtained some success in the
new kind I invented, one of which is done in the
following manner: — turn three times round in the
second position, then place the leg and the arms in
the arabesque attitude shown by figure 4, Plate x.,
and give three or four more turns in that attitude,
ending it in the same. When this pirouette is
correctly performed it has a very graceful effect.
Another very beautiful pirouette which I invented
is this : — having turned a few times in the second
position change it into that of the arabesque repre-
sented in figure 3, Plate xi. ; stretch out your body,
and incline it forwards as much as possible, whilst
your head and arms gracefully follow its motion.
This pirouette has something in it of a magical
appearance, for as the body leans so much over and
seems on the point of falling at each turn of the
pirouette, one might think there was an invisible
power that supported the dancer, who counter-
balances the eccentricity from the line of gravity by
the positions of the arms and legs and the great
rapidity of the motions. I believe this pirouette to
be the most difficult that can be performed. I have
sometimes turned in the attitude of figure 4, Plate
viii., which is a pirouette of much gracefulness, and
produces a good effect ; the angular position of the
right arm giving it a peculiar brilliancy. It may be
made much use of in a pas de charactere.
44 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
On one occasion, performing the part of Mercury, I
took as I turned in my pirouette the attitude of the
statue of Mercury by John of Bologna, figure 1 Plate ix.
This fine position is very difficult to stand in. Unless
a dancer is naturally arched he can never do it well,
and the pirouette loses all its effect. The body must
lean forward and the right arm develope itself almost
entirely. The leg that is in attitude must be bent,
and by its motion accompany the rounding contour of
the position of the body. To render this attitude yet
more graceful let the dancer stretch out his left arm,
in which the caduceus is held : this takes off the angle
at his elbows that would otherwise be presented, and
gives the pirouette much more elegance. As to the
manner in which the gesture expressive of the
motive of this figure can be given, it should be
remembered that the position of it is determined
once for all, and therefore should not be tampered
with.
I shall conclude by telling the pupil that she may
pirouette in any kind of attitude or arabesque,
provided that the design of the body, arms and legs
be graceful, and every movement natural and free
from affectation.
Pirouettes may be ended in any position, attitude,
or arabesque whatever. The following are the various
different sorts of pirouettes : pirouettes a petits batte-
ments on the instep, pirouette a ronde de jambe ; a la
seconde avec grand ronde de jambe; avec fouette,
pirouette en attitude , en arabesque; pirouette sur le
coude pied; pirouette en dedans a la seconde sur le
coude pied et en attitude ; pirouette renversee ; pirouettes
composees, dx.
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 45
Position of the dancer in the beginning of a pirou-
ette from the outside, figure 3, Plate vii.
N.B. The feet should be placed between the
second and fourth position in the inside of the circle
of the pirouette.
Position of the dancer in beginning a pirouette
from the inside, figure 4, Plate vii.
46
CHAPTEE VIII.
Of the serious dancer, the Demi-char actere, and
THE COMIC DANCER.
It is useless for a dancer to devote herself to the
serious or heroic branch of her art, unless she is
gifted with symmetry of form and elevation of
stature ; indispensable qualities for excellence in this
kind of dancing. Those whose persons approach
nearest in height and shape to the statues of Apollo
or of Antinous, of the Troaian Venus or of Diana,
are perfectly adapted to serious dancing. But they
would never do for the demi-charactere or the
pastoral. They are too majestic. (See figure 1,
Plate xiv.)
All who wish to signalise themselves in this sort of
performance must be of a noble, elegant and elevated
carriage, replete with dignity and gracefulness, but
void of the least affectation. The serious is the most
difficult branch of dancing, it requires a close study,
and cannot be duly appreciated but by connoisseurs
and men of a refined and pure taste. She who excels
in it deserves the highest applause. A correct
execution of an adagio is the ne plus ultra of our art ;
I look on it as the touchstone of the dancer.
It is truly to be lamented that this, the finest style of
dancing, is now so much neglected, I might perhaps
say completely lost. The causes of this sad aban-
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 47
donment are chiefly attributable to that confusion of
its different branches which at present disfigures
the art of dancing : to that want of perseverance
and study in most dancers, and to that vicious
taste so conspicuous amongst most of those who
frequent our theatres. Our masters, as I have
before observed, were perfect in this style; but
they have had very few followers. I know only
one dancer capable of executing it to advantage ;
but let him not by an ill-placed complaisance
endeavour to please a crowd of ignorant spectators.
It is nevertheless in some measure to the artist that
it belongs to bring back public taste to what is really
good and beautiful by persisting in performing accord-
ing to the true rules of art. It was said in one of the
Parisian papers, speaking of my debut at the Koyal
Academy of Music, that " for some length of time past
the noble and serious kind of dancing has been
treated with a singular contempt. It is indeed
difficult to imagine how a dancer can give herself up
to a branch of the art which is not popular, and yet
serious dancing possesses its peculiar attractions.
The beauty of the positions, the majesty of the move-
ments, the dignity of the step, &c, give a certain
character of importance to this kind of dancing, and
allow us, comparing one art with another, to say that
it is like sculpture. The ancients were very partial
to this sort of recreation and cultivated it with great
success. And if we despise it and neglect it, it is because
we are far beneath that perfection which the Greeks
and the Eomans once obtained. Their mimic play
bore some analogy to our grave style which is a reason
why we should encourage the small number of dancers
48 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
who devote themselves to these performances. At
some future time they may perhaps afford us an
enjoyment which has hitherto been unknown to us."
This last sentence proves how great is the decay of
the beautiful serious style of dancing : since the enjoy-
ments which it promises are unknown to the public
of the present day.
A serious or heroic dancer should be perfectly
shaped in the legs, have a well-formed instep, and be
extremely flexible and easy about the hips ; without
these essential qualities she cannot succeed in the
line she has taken. In all other kinds of dancing it is
not so requisite to possess these peculiar qualities in
the same perfection, as in this. That preciseness and
correctness which we always expect to see in the
heroic artist, are not exacted from a demi-
charactere or comic dancer. The heroic dancer must
pre-eminently distinguish herself by the dignity of the
upper part of her body, by the most harmonious
combination of movements in her arms, and by the
perfect finish of her execution in accordance with the
best rules of the art.
This kind of dancing comprises the most beautiful
developments, all the grand temps, and the noblest
steps. The performer must attract the beholder's
attention by the elegance of her design, the correct-
ness of her poses, and the gracefulness of her attitude
and arabesques. The finest pirouette in the second
position, in attitude or on the instep, entrechats and
all other temps a" elevation are required in this serious
branch. We thus perceive that the performance of
the heroic dances in our days is much more compli-
cated than that of our predecessors, and that such an
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 49
artist must now possess a great number of
accomplishments.
The demi-charactere dancer ought to be of the middle
stature and of a slender and elegant shape. Those
who are gifted with the proportions of Canova's
Mercury or of his Hebe, are well suited to this
charming kind of dancing.
This demi-charactere is a mixture of every style.
Those who devote themselves to it, may make use of
all the temps and steps which the art of dancing
possesses. Their performance, however, must be
noble and elegant, their temps d'abandon executed
with some little restraint, and a certain amiable
dignity ought to accompany their dance throughout.
The demi-charactere does not admit those grand temps
of the serious kind. A dancer of the demi-charactere
is chiefly adapted to perform the parts of Mercury,
Paris, Zephyr, or a Faun, and to represent the
elegant and graceful manners of a Troubadour, &c.
The comic and pastoral must be the department of
those whose persons are of the middle stature, who are
thick set and vigorously constructed ; and if a dancer
together with these almost athletic proportions
possesses a stature a little above the ordinary size, she
is perfectly framed for the performance of character
steps, the greater part of which belong to the
comic branch. In my opinion, the very type of this
branch consists in the imitation of all those natural
motions which have been denominated dances in
every age and amongst every people. To offer a true
picture of pastoral life, the dancer in her performance
must copy and mimic the steps, attitudes, simplicity of
manner, and sometimes even those frolicsome and
50 THEORY OP THEATRICAL DANCING.
rude motions of the villager, who, inspired by the
sounds of his rustic instruments, and animated by the
society and liveliness of his cherished companion, or
beloved mistress, gives his whole soul up, without
restraint, to the pleasures of dancing. The pupil who
aspires to excellence in these imitations should study
nature and the best painters who have enlivened
their canvas with these interesting images. All
dancers of the comic cast ought to study character
steps, and imitate every kind of dancing peculiar to
this or that country, giving their attitudes and move-
ments the true national stamp of the dance they are
performing. That correctness, which artists of the
demi-charactere kind must possess, is not so rigorously
exacted from dancers of the comic and pastoral
branches.
The following are the character dances most
practised le Provengale, le Bolero, la Tarantelle, la
Husse, VErossaise, VAllemande, la Tyrolienne, la
Cosaque, la Fourlane. The Pas chinois, jpas sabotiers,
VAnglaise, and steps of caricature, &c, belong to the
lower comic style.
For the serious or heroic kind of dancing see figure
1, Plate xiv.
For the demi-charactere see figure 2, Plate xiv.
For the comic kind see figure 3, Plate xiv.
Example of the composition of groups, attitudes de
genre, and principal posture of Bacchanalian dance, see
figure 4, Plate xiv.
N.B. The explanation of the plates in their order
is given at the end of the Treatise.
51
CHAPTEE IX.
The Preceptor.
New Method of Instruction.
A dancer, after having been educated in the best
schools, must trust to her execution for attain-
ment to the first rank : one who knows the theory
only of the art can never be a good guide. An artist
should be a first rate practical dancer before pretend-
ing, to the title of a master ; otherwise he cannot teach
except in a commonplace and mechanical manner ;
nothing will be positive in his lessons, and his demon-
strations must be always uncertain and without force.
Incapable of imparting the true principles of a good
execution, he affords his pupil no means of gaining
success and distinction. A dancer coming from the
misguiding hands of such a professor cannot possibly
be perfect, she has not imbibed the true spirit of the
art, and her performance is invariably cold, inexpress-
ive and devoid of grace. She presents the spectator
with a picture incorrectly drawn, feebly coloured,
without any gradations of light and shade, and
therefore wanting effect, and if she does not possess
those qualities of design and colour, no less essential
in dancing than in painting, it is in vain for her to
hope to please and interest the beholder.
&% THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
I have, however, seen instances of dancers brought
up in a good school, who, from some circumstance or
other, not being able to attain pre-eminence on the
stage, have set themselves to teaching, and furnished
our theatres with excellent dancers. But the number
of such professors is very small, as nearly all those
who are not distinguished by their practical work are
incapable of producing a finished dancer.
A teacher to whom long exercise and experience
have given views out of the common run, will
always, before commencing to teach a pupil,
examine whether her construction is suited to the
attitude and motions of dancing ; and whether, as she
increases in growth, she will possess an elegant shape,
a graceful mien and perfect pliancy in her limbs ; for
without these natural gifts and dispositions towards
making a rapid progress in the study, the pupil will
neither acquire skill nor reputation.
" — se adequata
Non avia la figura, non imprenda
Un' arte si gentile e delicate."
A famous actor used to say that it is impossible to
excel on the stage without the assistance of nature.
These words, which experience itself dictated, are
replete with truth.
The age of eight years is the best time of life for
commencing the first rudiments of dancing ; the young
learner soon comprehends the demonstrations of her
preceptor, who, being then perfectly enabled to judge
of her physical powers, instructs her to much greater
advantage.
As soon as the master has prepared his pupil by
the first exercises, he should immediately make her
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 58
study the lesson, then perfect her in the temps d'ecole,
in the principal steps of dancing, and afterwards point
out and make her practise the kind of performance
best adapted to her disposition, physical construction,
and sex.
Men must dance in a manner very different from
women ; the temps de vigeur and bold majestic
execution of the former, would have a disagreeable
effect in the latter, who must shine and delight by
bright steps and graceful motions, and by a modest
voluptuousness and abandon in all their attitudes.
All who are of an elevated stature of either sex the
master must set apart for the serious and more noble
kind of dancing. Those of a middle height, and of a
slender and delicate form, let him appoint to the demi-
charactere or mixed kind. And those who are beneath
that height, and of thick set, vigorous construction,
let him devote to the comic branch and to steps of
character. The master should finish his instructions
by instilling into his pupils' mind, to make them
truly accomplished, the real spirit and charm of their
art. He must carefully point out the difference that
exists between one kind of dancing and another, fix
with preciseness the manner of its performance, and,
finally, render his pupils familiar with all the diversi-
fied modes of dancing, w7hich the varieties of costume
they will have to adopt require.
If the pupil is endowed with a genius for composi-
tion, and a creative imagination, her master, skilful
in his art, should let her exercise her powers for the
invention and combination of steps, and make her
acquainted with the finest designs of choreography.
At the age of twenty-three or twenty-four years a
54 THEORY OP THEATRICAL DANCING.
dancer ought to have acquired the whole mechanism
of her art and possess the most brilliant execution she
is susceptible of attaining. In dancing, merit is not
estimated by the number of years the performer has
devoted to its practise. Nor is it to be under-rated as
she advances in life. A dancer of the age of forty, if
she be of a good school, and has been diligent in the
preservation of what she has learned, may, by
constant practice, still shine as an artist of the first
order. Of this we have many instances.
New method of Instruction.
In order to omit nothing which might help to make
a good dancer, I have added to the rules contained in
this part, figures which I have had drawn from nature ;
these represent the positions of the body, the arms,
and the legs, the different postures, the attitudes and
arabesques. The learners, having these examples
before their eyes, will easily understand the theoretical
principles which I have made known to them. The
poet of the Tiber judiciously observes :
" Segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem
Quam quae sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus. . . ."
And in order that their execution may be correct I
have drawn lines for them over the principal positions
of these figures, which will give them an idea of the
exact form they are to place themselves in, and to
adopt in the different attitudes of dancing. It will
remain for the learners to study well these geometrical
lines, paying strict attention to their diversity. As
soon as they have rendered this task (which I may
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 55
venture to term " mathematical " by reason of its
precision) familiar to them, they will be sure to place
themselves properly, giving proofs that they have
been well taught, and have acquired a correct taste.
I have preferred this novel method, which is
undoubtedly a more sure and efficacious one, to that of
a long and wearying description of the movements in
dancing, which oftentimes do but perplex and confound
the learner.
Were I to form a dancing school I should immed-
iately put into practice amongst my pupils the
following method, which I believe would prove very
useful, and which all masters might adopt without
having any knowledge of drawing. I should compose
a sort of alphabet of straight lines, comprising all the
positions of the limbs in dancing, giving these lines
and their respective combinations their proper geo-
metrical appellations : for instance, perpendiculars,
horizontals, obliques, right angles, acute angles,
obtuse angles, &c, a language which I deem almost
indispensable in our lessons. These lines and figures,
drawn upon a large slate and exposed to the view of a
number of scholars, would be soon understood and
imitated by them, and the master would not then be
compelled to hold a long demonstrative course to each
of them separately. The most diligent might take
copies of those figures on small slates, and carry them
away to study at home, in the same manner as a
child when he begins to spell, studies his alphabet in
the absence of the master. Let the reader compare
the two following delineations with figures 1 and 3 of
Plate vi., and he will conceive a clearer idea of the
new system.
56 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
Fig. 1, piate VI. Fig, 3, plate VI.
It is necessary that the pupil should study these
geometrical lines and all their derivatives. If he
subjects himself to the task, he is certain of holding
himself correctly afterwards, and will show that he
received notions of a pure taste in the school at
which he was educated.
A teacher cannot too strongly recommend his
scholars to have incessantly before them those
master-pieces of painting and sculpture which have
been saved from the wreck of antiquity. Those
immortal offsprings of genius, those enrapturing
examples of the beau ideal of the fine arts, will
considerably assist the cultivation of their taste. A
dancer who does not know how to develop herself,
to assume attitudes that set off her shape, who is
deficient in gracefulness, and void of good taste, can
never afford the smallest delight to the connoisseur
and cultivated spectator.
Of the Composition of Steps,
I shall conclude with some advice, that may, perhaps,
be of service to young artists, who, having success-
fully combatted all the first difficulties of their art,
wish to betake themselves to the combination of steps.
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 57
Why should they not follow the example of Dupre
in order to hasten their progress in this branch of
study ? That celebrated dancer used to dance extem-
pore to familiar airs ; by which means he rendered
his imagination more creative in the forming off-
hand of steps and enchainemeiits and accustomed his
ear to catch the measure and rhythm of the music with
greater rapidity.
This exercise would prove extremely useful for
developing the genius of a youthful dancer. Her first
attempts might probably be incorrect, sometimes even
ungraceful, but when she has once laid the foundation
of the step, if I may use the term, she can afterwards
correct and make all the changes suitable to its per-
fection. I have often practised this extemporising, and
had the good fortune at least of producing somo
things that were tolerable. I have frequently by this
exercise been enabled to compose with facility a
variety of steps which I had to execute in public, and
particularly when I allowed myself a little time to
perfect their combination. M. Gardel, speaking once
of our old dancers, mentioned, with approbation, this
practise of Dupre, who at the same time that he was
making himself an excellent dancer, gave full scope to
his genius. His remark struck me, and I immediately
set about imitating that distinguished performer. I
made my first essay under the eye of my father.
Whilst he extemporised on the pianoforte, I en-
deavoured to follow his musical intentions, and to
form pas de deux, de trois, which I afterwards
performed in the operas Raphael, Achille, Debutade,
&c. These essays were so fortunate as to meet with
general approbation.
58
CHAPTER X.
First Exercises. Temps: the Lesson: Gait.
Elementary Positions.
In the first position the legs are quite straight,
the two heels close to each other, the feet turned com-
pletely out in a straight line (figure 1, Plate i.)
In the second position the legs are more apart but
only by the length of the foot (figure 2, Plate ii.)
In the third position the feet half cross each other
and are close together (figure 3, Plate i.)
The fourth position is very similar to the third, with
this difference, that the feet half cross each other
without touching (figure 1, Plate ii.)
In the fifth position the feet cross each other
entirely (figure 4, Plate i.)
In all these positions the knees must be bent with-
out raising the heels in the least from the ground ;
but to give flexibility and strength to the instep the
position should be often practised on the toes, (figure
5, Plate i., and figure 3, Plate ii.)
Battements.
A battement consists of the movement of one leg in
the air, whilst the other supports the body. They are
of three kinds, viz., grands battements, petits battements,
and battements on the instep.
Grands battements are done by detaching one leg
THEORY OP THEATRICAL DANCING. 59
from the other and raising it to the height of the hip,
extending it to the utmost. (See figure 5, Plate ii.,
which shows also the manner in which a beginner
must hold himself.) After the performance of the
battement, the leg falls again into the fifth position.
They may be crossed either behind or before. Grands
battements enable a dancer to turn her legs completely
outwards, and give much facility to the motions of her
thighs, for the high evolutions and the execution of
grands temps. Grands battements are made both
forwards and backwards : when they are done forwards
the leg must be in the positions shown in figure 1 & 2
of Plate iv : when backwards, its positions must be
that of figure 3, Plate iv.
Petits battements are performed in the same way,
but instead of raising the leg into the air you only
detach it a little from the other leg, without letting
your toes leave the ground. These battements make
the legs very lithsome, because the pupil is obliged to
make these movements very quickly.
Petits battements on the instep. It is the hip and
knee that prepare and form these movements ; the
hip guides the thigh in its openings, and the knee by
its flexion performs the battements, making the lower
part of the leg cross either before or behind the other
leg, which rests on the ground. Suppose that you are
standing on your left foot, with your right leg in the
second position, and the right foot just touching the
ground at the toe ; cross before the left, by bending
your knee and opening again sideways, then bend the
knee again, crossing your foot behind, opening also
sideways ; and so continue to do several of these batte-
ments one after the other. Gradually increase in
60 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
quickness, till you can perform them so rapidly that
the eye cannot count them. These battements have
a very pretty effect, and give much brilliancy to the
motions of the legs. They should also be practised a
great deal with both legs resting on the toes.
Ronds dejambes.
To begin your rond de jambe from the outside take the
same position as that in which you commence your
petits battements. Suppose it is the left leg that stands
on the ground whilst the right in the second position
is prepared for the movement ; make it describe a semi-
circle backwards, which brings your legs to the first
position, and then continue on the sweep till it
completes the whole circle, ending at the place from
whence it started. This is what we technically term
rond de jambe.
The rond de jambe from the inside is begun in the
same position, but the right leg, instead of commencing
the circle backwards, must do so forwards. After the
pupil has practised the ronds de jambe on the ground,
she should exercise herself in performing them in the
air, keeping the leg that supports her body on the toes.
The pupil in her first exercises ought to rest her
hand on something that she may keep herself upright,
and exercise each leg alternately. When she has
acquired some facility in this, let her practise without
holding ; this gives her uprightness and equilibrium,
essential qualities in a good dancer. She will also
thereby gain strength and the means of executing
with ease every kind of step. She must repeat this
practice daily to gain proficiency. For were she gifted
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 61
with the rarest talent she could never become perfect
but by incessant application and study.
Of the Temps,
Temps is the general name given to any movement
of the leg.
Of the Pas.
The pas denotes the different ways of placing the legs
in walking or in leaping, either in a straight line or in
a circle. The name pas is generally given to a combi-
nation of steps arranged to some musical air : thus we
say such an one made a beautiful pas on such a
chaecone or on such a gigue. Pas are often combined
for the performance of two or more persons ; pas de
deux, pas de trois, quatre, cinq, &c.
Of the Lesson.
The combination of elementary exercises and of the
principal steps of dancing is what is usually termed
the lesson.
The learner first exercises herself in bending her
knees in all the positions, in the practice of grands
and petits battements, the rond de jambe on the ground
and in the air, the petits battements on the instep, &c.
Afterwards come the temps de courante simples et
composes, the coupes a la premiere, a la seconde et
composes, the attitudes, the grand rond de jambe,
temps de chaecone, the grands fouettes facing and
revolving, the quart de tour, the pas de Bourree and
the various movements of different kinds of pirouettes.
These exercises tend to form a good dancer, and afford
62 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
her the means of obtaining success. The lesson
concludes by the practise of pirouettes, of temps terre-a-
terre and temps de vigeur.
But after the pupil is enabled to perform all the
exercises which the lesson comprehends, she does not
yet attain the end which she in the beginning hoped
to reach. To become a finished dancer she must divest
herself of that schoolgirl appearance which necessarily
hangs about her, and by her boldness and ease of
execution at length show that she is mistress of her
art. Let her whole attention be then directed to
delighting her beholders by the elegance of her posi-
tions, the gracefulness of her movements, the
expressive animation of her features, and by a pleasing
abandon which ought to accompany every kind of
dancing. These qualities constitute a really perfect
dancer, and with them she is certain of enrapturing
all who behold her.
Gait.
A graceful manner of walking on the stage is of
much importance to a dancer, although a number of
our artists neglect it, both in moments of repose and
in presenting themselves to the public for the execu-
tion of a pas. This is a serious defect, as it in the
first place offends the eye, and secondly, deprives the
performance of its pleasing illusion.
A good gait is very useful, for in that consists one
of the first qualities of a good dancer, which is a
graceful carriage. Let your legs be well extended in
their movements or steps, and your thighs turned
perfectly out, all the lower parts of your legs will then
be turned in the same manner* Your steps should be
THEORY OP THEATRICAL DANCING. 6S
no longer than the length of one of your feet. Avoid
stiffness in your movements, which must be neither
too slow nor too quick, as both extremes are equally
unpleasing. Do not separate your legs from each
other sideways. Carry your head upright and your
waist steadily ; by which means your body is kept in
an elegant position. Let your chest project a little,
keep your shoulders back and let your arms fall
naturally on each side. (See also Chapter iv.)
64
CHAPTEE XL
On Pantomime and the studies necessary for a
Pantomimic Performer.
" atto degli occhi e delle membra.5'
Tasso.
•art insenieux
De peindre la parole et de parler aux yeux."
Brebavf.
Having frequently reflected on Ballets and the
usual method of composing them, it has as frequently
occurred to me, that their prevailing defects might be
removed; and that, by enlarging the pantomimic
department of them, and by improving the incidental
dancing, they might be advanced to something like
perfection.
Pantomime is, undoubtedly, the very soul and
support of the Ballet. The art of gesture possesses
powers capable of raising an interest unknown to the
generality of artists ; and it is to the slight atten-
tion paid to this department, and to a want of
knowledge among composers, that must be attributed
the glaring imperfections that prevail throughout the
greater part of those pieces improperly styled Ballets,
which, however, are continually performed at theatres
of the first rank.
Gesture is the earliest sort of language that man
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 65
acquires from nature. Children and savages make
use of it for the purpose of supplying their wants. It
is a means of communicating the ideas and the
sentiments of those who talk different languages, and
is, in fact, a resource for such unfortunate beings as
are deprived of the faculties of hearing and speaking.
What grounds are these then for exciting an interest
in favour of this imitative art, and for its cultivation !
" Pantomime " says a great master of the fine arts,
" expresses with rapidity the movements of the soul —
it is the language of all nations — of all ages — and of
all occasions; it portrays more perfectly even than
speech itself, extreme grief or excessive joy." The
ardent mind of Diderot knew how to appreciate this
natural expression and he lavishes upon it all due
praise.
. The following beautiful lines will, perhaps, convey
a still clearer idea of the importance of our subject : —
" Negli occhi, ove il sembiante piu si ficca."
Dan te.
'• E cio clie lingua esprimer ben mon puote
Muta eloquenza ne 'suoi gesti espresse."
Tasso.
** Words (when the poet would your soul engage)
Are the mere garnish of an idle stage,
When passion rages, eloquence is mean ;
Gestures and looks best speak the moving scene."
Young.
" His rude expression and untutored airs,
Beyond the power of language, will unfold
The form of beauty, smiling at his heart ;
How lovely ! how commanding !
Ahenside*
Independently of the natural gestures, it is known
E
66 THEORY OE THEATRICAL DANCING.
that the figurative and symbolical language of
motions, composed of regulated signs or signs of
intelligence, is sometimes more striking than the
slower and systematic language of words. This is the
origin of Pantomime. The Oriental nations have
adopted it, and are greatly attached to it. Their
imagination ardently availed itself of this mode of
expression — that is, expression by an imagery of
things, — and hence arises also their partiality for a
picturesque style. It was from reflections like these,
which say so much in favour of the art of Pantomime,
that I studied the science of composing Ballets, and
of establishing more precise and exact rules for con-
ducting them, consulting on such a subject the rules
both of art and of taste. " Art furnishes rules, and
taste exceptions; taste discovers to us on what
occasions art ought to be subservient, and when in
turn the former should submit." Montesquieu.
" Man has three means of expressing his ideas and
feelings ; by speech, tone of voice, and gesture. By
gestures we understand those exterior movements
and attitudes of the body which relate to the inward
operations of the mind. Gcstus, says Cicero, est con-
fermatio qaosdam etfigura totius oris et corporis,
" I name speech first because we generally pay more
attention to it than to the two others ; which latter
however possess many advantages over the former.
Our tone of voice and gesture are of a more natural
and extensive use; for by them we supply every
deficiency in speech. By gesture we present to the
eyes all that we cannot express to the ears ; it is a
universal interpreter that follows us to the very
extremities of the globe, and makes us intelligible to
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 67
the most uncivilized hordes. It is understood even by
animals. Speech is the language of reason ; it con-
vinces our minds : tones and gestures form a
sentimental discourse that moves the heart. Speech
can only give utterance to our passions by means of
reflection on their relative ideas. Voice and gesture
express them to those we address in an immediate and
direct manner. In short, speech, or rather the words
which compose it, is an artificial institution, formed
and agreed upon between men for a more distinct
reciprocal communication of their ideas, whilst gesture
and the tone of voice, are, I may say, the dictionary
of simple nature ; they are a language innate in us,
and serve to exhibit all that concerns our wants and
the preservation of our existence ; for which reason
they are rapid, expressive and energetic. Such a
language, of which the terms are rather those of nature
than of cultivation, cannot but be an inexhaustible
source for an art whose object is to move the deepest
sensations of the soul."
These lines of Le Batteur's speak sufficiently in
favour of pantomime and may serve for an intro-
duction to the lessons of the performer.
Gestures are of two kinds, natural and artificial.
The first are in our nature, we are born with them,
they are the outward signs of all that passes within
us. The latter we derive from art ; they express by
imitation all objects that are independent of ourselves.
Natural gestures are the physical signs of our senti-
ments; artificial ones the emblems of all that is
outside the moral world. Those of the former kind
exhibit the emotions of love, sadness, anger, hatred,
joy, fear, pleasure, despair, &c, and are what we may
68 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
call the mechanical effects of our intellectual over our
physical being. Those of the latter sort serve to
represent objects, as a warrior, old age, a child, a
temple, a ship, arms, robes, &c. ; they can also
describe a storm, a fallen edifice, a fight, a death, &c.
There is another class of gestures, termed in
pantomime gestures of convention, which are often
necessary to cast a light on some obscure part of the
performance. These gestures of convention, which art
has created and custom established, paint those things
which we cannot perfectly understand but with the
assistance of our imagination, and all events the
multiplicity of which cannot be represented by one
person only. Such are, for instance, a festival, a
wedding, a coronation, the imitation of a father, a
husband, a son, the indication of power, slavery,
revolt, &c, all of which cannot be clearly understood,
but by gestures of convention. The spectator soon
learns their meaning from theatrical habit, besides
they always bear some kind of analogy to the things
they represent, which makes them sufficiently
intelligible ; they are indeed a sort of symbolic signs.
From what we read of ancient pantomimes, it seems
evident that they had a great variety of gestures, both
of art and of convention, since we are told that they
could express past and future time, and even abstract
ideas. An ancient writer speaks of a trial of skill
between Eoscius and Cicero, in which these two
celebrated men were to express the same things by
different means — the orator by his speech, the player
by his gestures. It does not appear that Eoscius
gained the victory over his rival, neither is he to be
considered as vanquished, for he conceived so high
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 69
an idea of his own art from this trial that he
immediately wrote a book on gesticulation, which he
therein placed on a level with eloquence itself. A
greater proof cannot be brought forward in favour of
the perfection of ancient pantomime.
Among the ancients the name of mimes was
originally given to those dialogues which represented
their habits and morals. These dialogues were spoken
by men, and when necessary by women also. The
best compositions of the kind were those of Sophron,
who lived before Plato, those of Xenarchus, and those
of Publius Sirus, a Koman. Laberius, Philistion,
Lentulus, and Marulus shone also in this class of
comedy which was very similar to the " Atellanes"
formerly represented at Averse These authors were
termed mimographers from the Greek word mimos, an
imitation, and grapho, I write. The name mime was
afterwards given to those performers who imitated by
their gestures only what was spoken by the histriones,
or comedians and singers or declaimers, both in tragedy
and comedy. These performers in the sequel
degenerating into frivolity, bombast and indecency,
were merely regarded as buffoons and jugglers. The
men were treated with the utmost contempt, and the
women regarded only as concubines and prostitutes.
Some time afterwards, two celebrated actors in the
reign of Augustus, gave the art of mimicry a new
birth, and brought it to much perfection and
distinction. It was under their skilful hands that it
acquired a splendour and importance unknown even
in the brilliant ages of Greece. Their dexterity in
representing sentiment by gesture became at length
astounding. The Romans gave the name of Panto-
70 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
mimes to those performers who expressed all kinds
of things by means of gestures. The arts of
Pantomime and dancing were afterwards called
Saltatio. The word Tripudium was also used to
signify ^dancing. The Greeks termed both, when
united, Orchestica.
Lucian, in his celebrated dialogue upon dancing,
raised that art to much dignity, by presenting it in
its true light. He pointed out its utility ; the many
advantages derived from it ; presented all the charms
with which it abounds, and confirmed the judgment of
those who decreed it an equal rank with tragedy and
comedy.
Scipion Maffei very erroneously believed that Lucian
was merely railing, according to his usual way, when
he in his work gave a certain character of importance
to dancing and set a high value on the talent of the
performer. But his motive for writing on Pantomimic
representations cannot in any way be suspected ; his
ideas of it seem the same throughout : he nowhere
contradicts himself ; besides, he is not the only author
that speaks with enthusiasm on that ancient spec-
tacle. The illustrious Veronese, it is true, does not
appear to have bestowed much thought upon this
subject ; but itis no less true that Dancing, Pantomime,
and Ballets were in his time very far from that degree
of perfection to which they have since been carried,
both in France and Italy. What we are told of the
ancients surprises us, but we have discovered many
things which might have astonished them.
Let us only require that which is reasonable and
natural to make a Pantomime truly interesting and
agreeable. Let us go no further ; if we exceed these
THEOEY OP THEATRICAL DANCING. 71
limits of art and good sense, our efforts will un-
questionably be fruitless.
The outward motions of the body are effected by
the influence of the inward operations of the mind.
All gestures that indicate, in a clear and striking
manner, the objects to which they refer, never fail of
meeting with applause at a theatre. Beware, there-
fore, of making use of any that are trivial or ignoble ;
copy the best models, but improve, if possible, on
them in your imitation.
M. Goia, among other philosophers, observes :
" Sentiments, mutually communicated, have a refer-
ence either to present or distant objects ; or they
relate to internal sensations. When the object is
present the eyes are turned to it, while the staff or
finger points it out, the body either approaches or
shrinks from it ; thus forming a kind of dictionary of
this mute language. Signs made in this manner may
be termed indicative.
" When the attention is directed to a distant object,
as for instance, when a savage would discover some
animal to kill it, or would describe another by which
he was attacked, he expresses its howling, roaring or
peculiar cry, by the effect of his own voice ; its form
and motions he describes by the gesticulation of his
hands, arms or head, and this species of signs may be
called imitative.
"When the same person would express his own
peculiar wants, fears, or any feeling which the eye
cannot perceive, he first exhibits those peculiar
attitudes which are produced by such feelings. B.
seeing the place where he had been affrighted, will
repeat the cries of fear, and the movements of terror,
72 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
in order that his companion A. may not expose
himself to the same danger which he had experienced.
A person deaf and dumb wishing to show that he was
trampled on by a horse, first describes the swift
motion of the horse's feet with his hands, and then
with his fingers he traces out on his body those parts
that have been injured, showing at the same time
how he fell.
" After exhibiting those external signs which accom-
pany the affections, the savage, like a deaf and dumb
person, seizes on the resemblance he finds between the
internal sensations of the mind and the external
qualities of bodies, employing the latter to express the
former. Thus violent anger is compared to the flame
or the tempest ; tranquillity of mind to a serene sky ;
doubt is expressed by the two hands that would
weigh two bodies ; and such signs as these are called
figurative or symbolic. These indicative, imitative and
figurative gestures, then, provide a threefold means
of communication between ideas and feelings, enlisting
into their service all the aids afforded by the laws of
association.
" To classify the elementary materials of which this
language is composed, we must reduce them to
three kinds, namely, gestures, sounds, and symbolic
writings. The first class includes the actions and
attitudes of the body employed to express the form or
motion of a visible object : the second contains those
sounds of a voice with which are described the
animals or the noise accompanying the motion of
inanimate bodies; the third comprehends those
hieroglyphics which are frequently traced upon the
sand, the bark of trees, or any other surface to
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 73
indicate visible objects or the motions appertaining to
them."
The actor points out with his hands each part of
his body as also all objects at a distance from him, by
stretching his hands towards them. His eyes should
accompany each movement, and by adding to
the general expression serve to point out more clearly
the object to which he directs his thought.
Symbolic gesture and gestures of convention and of
art, are employed to signify everything that cannot be
exactly imitated or counterfeited by man, by simply
natural gestures alone. They show to the imagina-
tion of the spectator all that cannot be seen by him
on the stage. They, in general, bear as much analogy
as possible to the things they endeavour to describe.
This is their chief object.
" Study to make yourself understood by imitating the
form of the objects you wish to represent ; and when
that is not possible, point out as clearly as you can
their use, &c, so that your beholders may understand
what you wish to express without ambiguity : let all
your expressions be precise and distinct. One of
Lucian's commentators has said that Pantomime is
capable, by gestures of convention, of expressing past
and future times, with every abstract action which
bears no relation to the passing moment : this is
precisely what was done by the ancient Pantomimes.
I am aware that many persons would be ignorant of
the meaning of these artificial gestures which are not
founded on passion or nature ; but in that case, to
raise a desire to learn their signification, the Ballet
master, and those who represent his compositions,
should exhibit pieces both easy and accurate, in order
74 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
that the public, appreciating their beauty, may apply
themselves to the grammar, if we may so call it, of
this new language.
This is in some measure reasonable enough and
might be done with no great difficulty in Italy, where the
people are naturally inclined to Pantomime and where
the actors already make use of gestures of convention.
In France some length of time, and a course of deep
study, would be required to attain the same degree of
perfection. The French Pantomimists have adopted
only a small number of gestures, of which the greater
part are destitute of correct expression. Thus cir-
cumscribed in their means their art cannot accomplish
its due end, which is to represent to the eye a
picturesque imitation of all things.
In some theatres, where ballets have been intended
to please the intellect as much as the sight, this art
has made considerable progress, and the number of
gestures of art have much increased. The want of
them was felt, their advantages were discovered, and
success seems to have crowned the innovation.
It is natural to the Italian to gesticulate ; it is not
surprising therefore, if the actors of Italy are superior
to those of other countries, or if Pantomime is there
carried to so great a degree of perfection as to be
capable of expressing perfectly all the passions, with
every object sensible to the sight. They are, however,
most materially assisted by the gestures acquired by
art, which have greatly enlarged the sphere of their
performances.
Pantomime being incapable of producing any very
striking effect, except when employed in expressing
strong emotions, and objects easy of perception, the
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 75
Italians have selected the most celebrated deeds of
both history and fiction, the more deeply to fix the
attention of the spectators : these magnificent pictures
are always represented in a vigorous manner and are
sometimes sublime. This system excites great
interest in the Ballet, and renders the Pantomime
department important, at the same time increasing
and varying the pleasure of the public.
The Italian, endowed by nature with deep sensibility
and a vivid imagination, is fond of powerful impressions,
and prefers the stately and pathetic style to the comic
or even the pleasing. He is willing to be amused by
theatrical representations, but he would rather be
affected ; and hence arises the interest taken by him
in the performance of Ballets. It may be observed
that the Ballet has been more essentially assisted
by the art of painting in Italy than in France ; nor
has the art itself lost anything by it, but on the
contrary gained infinitely.
In France, however, lately, several of my friends
have distinguished themselves for their Pantomime and
have attained the same perfection in expressing the
passions as I have witnessed in Italy. This need not
appear extraordinary, if it be considered that man is
everywhere nearly the same. The only defect in these
performers was a want of sufficient gesture to express
perfectly every circumstance ; but this was less their
fault than that of their art. Notwithstanding this,
their description of sentiment was true, their features
spoke, and their attitudes were gracefully conceived.
I noticed that the best of these pantomimic performers
were from provincial theatres ; they were more indus-
trious, and their stock of pieces was greater than at the
76 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
capital. In Paris about a dozen pieces form their
round of representation ; at Bordeaux, Marseilles,
Lyons, &c, every Ballet that has succeeded is per-
formed : at Paris, on the contrary, those only are
performed that have been introduced by private
interest and favour. I remember at Bordeaux, on
one of my benefit nights, it occurred to me in order to
raise public curiosity, that my Ballet companions
should represent a corned}7. The attempt appeared
very extraordinary and was deemed impossible of
execution. The performers, however, being all
endowed with some talent, and very expert in
Pantomime, boldly undertook the performance, and
succeeded in giving a perfect representation of that
delightful Comedy called Folies Amoureuses. A severe
but just journalist, giving an account of this perform-
ance, thus expresses himself: " The piece was played
not only with [spirit, which might easily be expected
of dancers, but with truth also, a quality that becomes
every day more rare. Regnard was both felt and
expressed. The novices in speech did not stand in
need of that indulgence which had been prepared for
any failure in this hazardous enterprise."
This occurrence ought to prove satisfactorily that
in France there are dancers capable of performing
Pantomime perfectly ; and if they do not introduce
more of it into their parts, the cause of ifc should be
attributed to the composers, who neglect too much
this department, or who have not sufficient talent to
put Pantomime upon an equality with dancing.
It is not consistent with the character of Ballets to
treat of abstract things, nor to entertain the public
with long details. This sort of representation ought
THEOBY OF THEATKICAL DANCING. 77
only to exhibit such actions and images as create
interest and pleasure, without giving the spectator the
least occasion to guess at the intentions of the per-
former. A Pantomime must be simple, clear and
correct, if it be meant for a faithful interpretation of
our sensations. All that cannot be understood at the
moment of the action is mere imperfection, which it
is the Ballet master's duty to regard as useless.
Pantomime, like dancing, has its different kinds.
Gesture, look, carriage, in short, all the physical
expressions, are not exactly the same in every person :
they vary with the age, character, condition of the
actor, who ought, therefore, to pay the strictest
attention to those kinds only of which he finds himself
more peculiarly capable.
Unless the actor possesses certain physical qualities
and a natural disposition to Pantomime, he cannot
expect to see his endeavours crowned with success.
It is an incontrovertible fact, that without the gifts of
nature, it is impossible for us to become perfect in any
one art or science whatsoever ; but at the same time,
though endued with every requisite, were we to
neglect the sage precepts of art, we should equally
fail of our end. Those lessons formed into laws and
established by ages of experience, are essential, nay,
almost indispensable, to the attainment of perfection.
The great Longinus says " that nature is mainly
instrumental in conducting us to the grand and
sublime ; but unless art takes her by the hand, she is
as one blindfolded, knowing not whither her steps are
leading her."
It was by such a direction of art that the chisels
which created the Apollo and the Venus surpassed the
78 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING:.
hand of nature in the formation of beauty. Ars
naturam perjicit.
What is said of sculpture, painting, and all the fine
arts, can be said with the same truth of Pantomime.
A Pantominist requires considerable assistance from
art to be much valued : his imitation should be faithful,
but at the same time, finer than the original. This is
the end he must try to attain. Experience, good
taste, diligence and study, will conduct him towards
it. Art embellishes while she corrects nature ; the
former assists the latter and receives an ample reward
for her aid.
The first study of the Pantomimic actor ought to be
dancing : he must devote many years of steady
application to working at this art : then his move-
ments, his gestures, and his gait, will be more easy
and more graceful. Some notion of drawing will be
also very useful to him. Here let us observe, with
the celebrated Hogarth, in his analysis of Beauty : —
" That all those actions which we use in our ordinary
and daily occupation are performed almost in straight
lines, or in lines as nearly straight as possible ; but
all graceful movements, which display cultivated
manner are performed in undulating lines." This
judicious remark is worthy of the attention of all
classes of actors as by it they may learn to give
gracefulness to their actions and their gestures. The
study of oblique lines is also of much utility in vary-
ing their gestures and in making their attitudes and
motions appear more picturesque. By a knowledge of
drawing their performance will present many attrac-
tions of a most pleasing kind, and when united to a
knowledge of dancing afford them powerful means to
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 79
attain perfection. These two arts enable the actor to
be light, nimble and flexible ; all his movements will
be easy, graceful, and executed with taste ; his
attitudes and gestures will be elegant and natural.
Music also is of equal service and will contribute in
no small degree to the attainment of excellence. By
the study of music he renders himself capable of
following more exactly the rhythm of his art, and
makes his performance harmonize better with the
measure and cadence of the tune. To these requisite
qualities let him add an expressive countenance
always in strict unison with the subject he represents,
and thus complete the theatrical illusion.
It is very advisable for an actor to study history
and poetry; from them he will reap much profit.
They enlighten his mind, enlarge his views, and give
him true notions of taste. They afford him the first
lessons towards a knowledge of the nature of the
human heart in its full extent, and of the real
character of those personages he will be frequently
called upon to represent.
We may see, from what has been said, that the
modern pantomimic actor does not require all those
qualifications which constituted the art of the ancient,
who was obliged to be at once perfect in pantomime,
dancing and composition. These arts have in our
days been carried to a degree of excellence which
neither the Greeks nor Komans ever arrived at.
This pre-eminence may be ascribed to the better
judgment of the moderns, who have made an appro-
priate division of each department.
" The seven against Thebes," " Hercules," " Ajax,"
"The Adultery of Mars and Venus," "Paris," and a
80 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
few other Ballets of the ancients are but weak and
imperfect sketches when compared with Telemaque,
Psyche, Promethee, Niobe, Les Amours de Venus,
Ulysse, Almaviva et Kosine, Cleopatre, Zephyr e et
Flore, &c, all modern productions, in which taste,
genius and reason are happily combined to charm the
eyes and interest the heart.
With us it is only the young that devote themselves
to dancing and Pantomime, whilst those of more
advanced years, who possess both talents and experi-
ence, apply themselves to composition.
Lucian says that the stature of a Pantomimic actor
must be neither very tall nor extremely short: his
limbs neither too strong nor too slight. He wishes
his figure to be as nearly as possible of the proportions
of the stature of Polycletes. But as this masterpiece
of sculpture has not been transmitted to us, we must
take as a substitute that of Antinous. A performer
of that height and muscular constructure may under-
take a number of different characters, since his
physical powers are adapted to all branches of the
art. An easy remedy for trifling defects is found
in the manner of dressing and acting. Our Ballets
have the advantage of being performed by a great
number of persons. Each actor or dancer takes that
part which best suits his peculiar figure and talent.
It is the duty of the Ballet-master to look into these
particulars, and judiciously to distribute and appro-
priate the parts. The various characters of youth,
manhood, and old age, should be filled by different
actors, whose stature and feature, resemble in some
degree the idea we have of such personages. The
theatrical system of the present time is not the same
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 8l
as it was formerly. Now each actor and actress takes
one particular kind of character by which means our
dramatic representations are more naturally and
therefore much more perfectly performed.
In France the parts and lines of actors have been
divided and sub-divided in the minutest manner, that
all may be in a sort of exact accordance. The follow-
ing is a classification of some of the principal parts :
Jewries premieres : jeunes premieres ingenuites ;
amoureux ; amonrcux marques ; coquette de Marevaax ;
gr ancles coquettes ; petits mattres ; marquis ; premiere
roles ; peres nobles ; meres nobles ; roles a Manteaux ;
duegnes ( Spanish personages J financiers ; soubrettes ;
valets ; Figaros ; soubrettes de bon ton ; grandes
livrees ; servantes et valet de Moliere ; travestis ;
Crispin ; Scapin ; caricatures ; Cassandre ; grimes ;
roU'l reines ; princesses ; chevaliers ; grands pretres ;
confidents; utilites, dec, dec.
This example deserves to be followed in every
branch of theatrical art. But it frequently happens
that through motives of interest or ambition, an actor
is induced to aim at acquiring a talent as universal as
possible. This is well enough if he finds himself
really endowed with the necessary qualifications.
Indeed, I would then advise him to imitate everything,
to render himself a perfect master of mimicry of every
kind. It may be here remembered that the Greeks
called their players hypocrites. Among the ancients
one and the same actor used generally to represent a
great number of personages (see Lucian, Cassiodorus
and others). Sometimes, also, two performers under-
took to play every part in a piece; but afterwards
their number having increased, there were as many
actors as parts ; though this was not always the case.
F
82 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DAKCING.
A player ought to study the genius, character,
manner and customs of the various nations, the
natives of which he may have to represent. Let
nature be his constant model. In this respect he
shares the labours and honours of the composer.
The varied features of his countenance must exhibit
the different sensations of his soul, and his eyes,
particularly, must add to the expression of all those
feelings which his gesture is intended to convey.
The gesture of the mime being ever in accord with
his eye, should, as it were, speak : as Virgil says
" Signed cuncta rnanu loquitur Polyhymnia gestu."
Everything must be well understood, everything
deeply felt, if we wish to represent it correctly. We
hear that Polus to enable himself to act with greater
truth the scene in which Electra, in the most
poignant anguish, brings the urn that encloses her
brother's ashes, took that which did really contain the
last remains of his own sons ; the sight of this, by
renewing his grief, could not fail to make him express,
with an energy and perfection that art can never
teach, that keen anguish under which his mind must
have laboured. Let nature therefore, be most atten-
tively studied, even down to her minutest operations.
It is the composer's duty to inform the actor of the
subject, argument, and meaning of the Ballet, and
esi3ecially to instruct him as to the nature of the part
which he has to fulfil. He ought to shew him the
proper gestures that will express his own ideas in the
Pantomime, and also guide him in all his movements,
that the time and cadence of the music may be
preserved with precision.
Every action in Pantomime must be regulated
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. S3
according to the music, which ought also to partici-
pate in the expression of the passions. The effect
resulting from this harmonious union creates the
most pleasing emotions in the spectator. The Ballet-
master should set the gestures, attitudes, and steps,
exactly to the rhythm of the tunes, and so manage
that each sentiment expressed may be responsive to
the measure. Let the mimic and dancer however,
beware not to force this action in order to prove that
they really are in accord with the music : all must
be blended together, and the art concealed as much as
possible. The accompaniment must possess the true
tone and colouring of the pantomimic action.
The Ballet-master must avoid in his compositions
all that is exaggerated, dull, vulgar or trivial, particu-
larly in subjects of a serious nature.
The expressions of violent passion, or of those which
arise from any extraordinary situation, are not the
most difficult task of an actor. " The great difficulty
in the art," Marmontel observes, " is a simultaneous
expression of two sentiments agitating the soul, when
the mind wavers from one to the other ; or in the grada-
tions and shades either of one passion or of two
contrary ones, in their delusive momentary calm, in
their rapid fury, their impetuous transports, in short,
in all the varied accidents that form together a picture
of the storms which convulse the human heart."
What skill is here required to offer a faithful repre-
sentation of such emotions on the stage. It is indeed
the ne plus ultra of the comedian's art. To this
desirable point of perfection, it is, that such celebrated
actors have arrived as Garrick, Le Kain, Talma,
Kemble, Kean, Young, Demarin, EkhorT, Inland,
84 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
Mayquez, Siddons, Oldfield, O'Neil, Clairon, Dumenil,
Pellandi, Marchionni, Duchesnoy, and some few
others.
It is by such dumb actions, and those energetic
expressions, that we discover a really good actor.
One of a middling talent may declaim a speech
tolerably well ; but it is the sublime artist alone that
can paint in the rapid look, all the natural violence
of a strong passion. In this respect it is that the
Pantomimist always surpasses a comedian or tragedian.
The gestures and countenance of the actor must
express to the spectator all that passes in the soul, and
minutely point out every variation in its emotions.
The heart should feel all that is exhibited by the
features and gestures, which cannot act perfectly
without its consent.
That accord which exists between our moral and
physical faculties must be strictly observed. In real
life the most studied dissimulation can never entirely
hide the feelings that agitate us. Nor are those
feelings in real life ever so strongly expressed as to
be glaringly conspicuous. So with the actor, it is very
easy for the performer to completely dissimulate
the character he represents. But to be natural his
action must be more calm, he must try to throw a
veil over all his expressions and gestures sufficiently
transparent for the spectator to perceive the shades
of that secret passion which he endeavours as much
as possible to conceal.
The performance of the actor sometimes depends
on those who act with him ; if they are not animated
he necessarily becomes cold. But the principal per-
former should rather take possession as it were of the
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 85
stage, and give a tone to the rest, whose acting should
be responsive to his and form a part of it. It is this
harmony between the characters of the Pantomime,
which contributes most essentially to its general
theatrical effect.
It may here be observed, that an actor performing
in a small theatre may restrain his gestures and
moderate his exertions : but if, on the contrary, the
theatre is of extensive dimensions, his pantomimic
action must be increased in vigour also and more
strongly marked.
On the origin of those masked characters who perform
in Italian Comedies.
The following short discourse upon masked
characters is taken from Pietro Verri. Supposing it
to be a subject not devoid of interest to theatre-goers,
treating as it does of the origin of mimics, whom we
have already so often mentioned, we have thought our-
selves sufficiently authorized in introducing it here.
The custom of performing in masks may be traced
to the most remote antiquity. During the brightest
ages of Greece no actor appeared on the stage without
this peculiar appendage. In ancient comedy, masks
were of such universal use that they were adapted to
every species of character : there was the miser's mask,
the parasite's mask, the mask for the good servant
and the mask for the knavish one. An actor there-
fore had only to make his appearance thus masked,
when the nature of his character was immediately
recognized, even before a word was spoken: this is
86 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
precisely the case with respect to the mask of the
modern Harlequin, which is always the same ; while
those of the Brigella or Clown, the Dottore or
Doctor, and the Pantaloon, present so truly their
dispositions that it is impossible to be mistaken in
the foolishness and stupidity of the Clown, or in the
tricks and roguishness of the Harlequin.
We can therefore establish it as a positive fact that
the custom of wearing masks, which never varied
when once adapted to these peculiar characters, is
derived from the ancient Greek and Eoman theatres.
Amongst the ancient Eomans the profession of an
actor was divided into two branches, the Mime and
the Comedian. The Mime had his face blackened ;
he appeared upon the stage fuligine faciem obductus ;
at that time the custom of performing in the high
dramatic buskin, had not been introduced among the
Mimes, the bottom of their feet being bare, and on
that account, indeed, they obtained the name of
Mimes, according to Diomedes : " Planipes Gvceci
dicatur 3fimus, adeo autem latine planipes quod
adores planis pedibus proscenium introirent. We
may hence gather how strong a resemblance exists
between the modern Harlequin and Clown and the
Mimic of antiquity, particularly in those unvarying
characteristics, the blackened visage and the buskins.
Their general attire, also, bore a great similarity to
that of modern times; their Mimes were dressed
precisely like our Harlequins : see that passage of
Apuleius in which he says : " Num ex eo argumentare
uti me consuevisse tragedi sysmate, Histrionis cocosta,
mimi centunclo" Where observe, that to mimics
was assigned the Centunclus, which means a dress of
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 87
patches of a hundred colours, that is to say, a Harle-
quin's suit. And further, it may be remarked, that
Vossius, in his Institutes, informs us that 8anniov.es
Minium agebant rasis capitibus ; in which words two
things are worthy of note ; first, that Sanniones and
Mimes were both in the same line of profession ;
and secondly, that Harlequin and Clown are now
called Zanni, which word is doubtless no other than
a corruption of the original term Sannio. Thus then
a mimic with his head shaved, his face blackened,
and a suit of parti-coloured patches, barefooted or
nearly so, and bearing the name of Sannio, according
to ancient historians, must have been the worthy
ancestor of our magic Harlequin.
Perhaps some may doubt whether the severe Cato
and the grave Cicero had witnessed the performance
of a Eoman Harlequinade, but the doubt will soon be
removed upon reading the following passage extracted
from his book De Oratore, in which it may be seen he
describes a Harlequin exactly, " Quid enim potest tarn
ridiculum, quern Sannio esse qui ore, vultu, imitandis
moiibus, voce, denique corpore ridetur ipso.1' From
this it must be concluded that the Zanni or Zaneys of
modern comedy are derived from the most ancient
theatricals, even those of republican Kome, and that
they have been thus handed down to us.
It is not at all improbable that good comedy and
good tragedy might have been buried and forgotten
amid the barbarism that succeeded the fall of Rome,
and with which all Italy was overwhelmed, had not the
pleasure which unpolished ignorance took in a
clowning as gross as that of the Sanniones, pre-
served them from oblivion during the time that
88 THEOBY OF THEATKICAL DANCING.
nobler amusement was despised and forgotten.
It appears in short, that when the Italian Drama was
destroyed, those mimic farces continued to be performed,
though it were only in open squares or any corners
where such shows could occasionally be represented.
Proofs of this may be found as far back as the twelfth
century, beyond which period the traces of the existence
of the Dottore are not observable. Then it was that
Irenerius opened at Bologna a school of jurisprudence,
from which such institutions took their rise through-
out the greater part of Europe, and so continue to the
present time. And it appears that the origin of the
mask called Dottore may be fixed at that period, when
the two celebrated Doctors, Bulgaro and Martino,
disputed upon the question whether the whole world
belonged to the reigning emperor as sole proprietor or
whether he was only a kind of tenant. Certainly it
required some such appearance as this grotesque mask
with black nose and scarlet cheek, in order exactly to
represent the man who could gravely inquire whether
the world belonged to one man, or whether he was
only a mere tenant. Some learned persons indeed
contend that the original model of this mask was the
only good ever bestowed upon posterity by the school
of Irenerius.
With respect to the Pantaloon, it seems that it was
at the end of the fourteenth, or at the beginning of
the fifteenth century, that this mask was introduced
at the Theatres ; at a period when the commerce of
the Venetians caused the sum of 695,000 seguins to
circulate annually through the State of Milan, the
product of woollen manufactures, which were sent to
Venice and again sold in the Levant. This may be
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 89
proved by reading a controversy by the Doge
Thommaso Mocenigo as related by the historian
Sannudo.
Those who would have a more detailed account of
the early history of Pantomime, may read Nieuport's
Ritiium qui apud Romanos obtinuerunt ; Dubos'
Reflexions sur la Poesie Vol. 3, and Biccoboni's
Treatise.
90 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.
Plate I.
Figure 1. First position, arms in the second.
2. Position of the wrist and fingers.
3. Opposition, epaulement dti corps ; half arm in
opposition, and legs in third position.
4. Arms extended in opposition; legs in the
fifth position.
5. Arms encircling over the head, and legs in
the fifth position on the toes.
Plate II.
Figure 1. Position of the body, demi-bras, and legs in
the fourth position (side view).
2. Second position, feet flat on the ground,
and position of the demi-bras.
3. Second position on the toes.
4. Bending in the second position.
5. Manner in which a dancer should hold
herself when practising.
Plate III.
Figures 1, 2, 3. Defective positions of the arms.
4. Physical defects in the construction of the
bow-legged dancer.
5. Physical defects in the construction of the
close-legged dancer.
THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 91
Plate IV.
Figure 1. Fourth position forwards in the air. Arms
in the second position : (side view.)
2. Same position on the toes : arms in
opposition (front view).
3. Fourth position, leg in the air behind, (side
view.)
4 Poses, preparation, and termination of temps
and steps.
Plate V-
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4. Poses, preparation and termination
of temps and steps.
5. Pose of the hand and arms in certain
positions. -
Plate VI.
Figure 1. Second position in the air and on the toes.
2, 3, 4. Different attitudes derived from the
second and fourth positions.
Plate VII.
Figures 1 & 2. Different attitudes derived from the
fourth position.
3. Position of the dancer in beginning a
Pirouette from the outside.
4. Position of the dancer in beginning a
Pirouette from the inside. Arabesque
on the two feet.
Plate VIII.
Figure 1. Attitude.
2. Attitude seen" sideways.
3 & 4. Different ways of placing oneself in
attitude.
92 THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING.
Plate IX.
Figure 1. The Mercury of J. Bologne.
2 & 3. Derivatives from that attitude.
4. Position of a Pirouette on the instep.
Plate X.
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4. Arabesques.
Plate XI.
Figures 1 & 2. Arabesques.
3 & 4. Arabesques behind.
Plate XII.
Figures 1, 2, & 3. Arabesques.
4. Position of the dancer in movements of
elevation and in entrechats.
5. Elevation of two feet in height.
Plate XIII.
Figures 1, 2, 3, & 4. Attitudes of a dancer in steps of
elevation and entrechats.
Plate XIV.
Figures 1, 2, 3. Poses of dancers of either sex for
the three different kinds of dancing.
1. Serious or heroic dancer.
2. Demi-charactere.
3. Comic dancers.
1, 2, 3, 4 & 5. Attitudes de genre; groups, modifica-
tions, epaulement of attitudes in groups,
costumes the most suitable to dancers.
1. Greek Tunic.
2. Spanish Troubadour,
3. Villagers.
Principal group of a Baccahanalia, composed
by the author.
The reader will notice that a few of
these figures are obviously exaggerated
in order to give emphasis to the posi-
tion or attitude to be aimed at by the
Dancer.
S. D. H.
Plate I.
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Plate III.
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Plate IV.
Plate V.
Plate VI,
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Hate VII.
Plate VIJL
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Plate IX,
Plate X.
Plate XL
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Plate XII,
Plate XIII.
Plate XIV.
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Plate XIV. (2)
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